Author Archive
Posted By Inzzy / 19th May 2011
Strap on your tool belt, oil up your wrench and get started tinkering; The Engineer has been revealed.
Fans have guessed that this profession would come for a long time now, but not everyone knew how they would play or what they would do. Today however, we got the first look at this new profession. To be short and to the point, take the Engineer from Team Fortress 2, and the Commando from the April fools prank, and at a dash of Unreal Tournament Rocket Jumping in there for good measure and presto, you have yourself an Engineer salad with a nice glass of Mead on the side.
I’m not sure if the Commando back in April is clouding my judgment or what it is, but this is the first profession that just doesn’t Click for me. I understand why they are in Guild Wars 2, I understand lore wise how they fit into Guild Wars 2, but still something is off for me. I just can’t wrap my head around the; On one side you have magic that we have come to expect and love, on the other you have grenades, flash bangs, land mines and rocket jumping. Once you introduce a “reality based profession” into a game you might as well just forget the magic part when it comes to that profession. Guild Wars 1 already had the “magic” arrow that never ran out, but that was just arrows, it was easy to overlook. Now we have been given a class that can pull out explosive barrels and turrets out of his/her pocket (Anyone getting a 90s RPG game vibe here?), never-ending grenades and a backpack that is as good doing a disappearing act as Houdini was.
Wartower.de also got a chance to sit down with Jon Peters and Eric Flannum and talk about the new profession. Head over there to get more information.
What do you all think of this profession? Like, Dislike, Love or Hate, let us know in the comment field.
Posted By Inzzy / 12th May 2011
The night had fallen over Nebo Village when the two brothers came home from the hunt. All the small villages and settlements had started to grow rapidly since Queen Salma had taken the throne in Kryta. Once lush forests and swamplands had now been converted into farmlands and grazing fields for cattle, children could play outside without the fear of creatures attacking them and the White Mantle were all gone. Life was now simple, easy and safe, to safe for some.
“You know brother, the only thing that you’re worse at catching than lynx are ladies.”
“At least I don’t share my bed with a Warthog”
“He keeps me warm on cold nights, nothing wrong with that!”
“You might not think that, but there are people who talk in the village”
“Let them talk, one day they will see just how great Munfold is when both he and myself join the Seraph”
The banter between the two continued as they walked through the streets of Nebo Village, unaware that they are being kept an eye on. With each step they took their follower took two, it was not long before the shadow that had followed them ever since they set foot into Nebo Village caught up with them. With a swift swipe the bounty from the hunt was taken out of Ernest’s hands, and just as quick the thief disappeared into the shadows again. The two brothers didn’t look to surprised though, they gave each other a look, followed by a nod, then they turned around and backtracked a little until reaching a house.
“You’re the oldest brother, you should take the lead on this”
Armadan shook his head, Ernest was always playing the “little brother card” when they were together and he didn’t feel like doing something. Armadan dusted off his clothes a little before knocking on the door. A light was now visible through the windows of the house and it was moving towards the entrance door, it opened and the brothers were greeted by a face that more resembled a Dwarf then a human.
“What in Balthazar’s name do you two want at this time of the night?”
“I bring grave news, it seems like your son has been up to no good again and taken our hunt”
The face did not react, much like the face of a stone dwarf.
“And you two call yourself hunters when a child can take away your catch, disgrace not only to yourself but also to the this village!”
“Save us the lecture and just find your boy and give back our hunt” – Ernest was growing impatient as their hunt had taken longer than usual.
The man looked both the brothers in the eye before he closed the door, not soon after some yelling was heard within the house followed by another door being closed with a force that could easy bring down a house that wasn’t built right. The entrance door opened once again, the man still had the same dwarf look upon him but this time with their hunt in his hand. He handed the hunt over to Armadan and while closing the door said; “Next time keep a better eye on your catch, or you won’t get it back” With that the door shut right in Armadan’s face.
“He’ll grown into a proud member of the Grumpy-old-Mans-Club” – Ernest said jokingly
“If he’s not already the leader of the club that is” – Armadan fired back to Ernest.
After a long night they could finally put their heads on their pillows, even though their hunt had taken them longer than usual they were happy. Food is food no matter how you look at it.
“You know Ar. Once Mulfold grows up we could take him our hunts, it would be a great training for him before him and I join the Seraph”
“Yeah, we could use him as bait”
“Just forget I said anything”
Posted By Inzzy / 5th May 2011
Our first task on the agenda today is; find a new name for the “World versus World versus World Player versus Play”, because to be frank, if you say that people will look at you and think you’re having a seizure or something.
Onto the point in hand. The Hungarian fan site Variance has gotten hold of some very juicy information regarding how the WvW in Guild Wars 2 is going to be played.
John Corpening – There will be four maps at launch. We will be pitting three different worlds together in WvW. Each world will have a home map that connects to a center map
Some have already begun to speculate that people might be “portal camping” at World portals and that it will be hard to play because of this. This is a mindset that Alliance Battle has given us, small portals that can be camped. From the sound of it however, portal camping will be hard. When players enter the center map they warp into a keep, a keep that hopefully can be upgraded and has more than just one exit. Some MMO games that have WvW also have an “Invincible Buff” when you teleport into areas like this (for X amount of seconds you cannot be killed) thus allowing you to run past the portal blockade. I kind of imagine the map layouts similar to Chinese Checkers, you have your Home Maps on far ends of the board, and then you have your Portal Keeps on the border of your Home Map and Center Map.
Eric Flannum – Titles in Guild Wars 2 will be much more cosmetic than they were in Guild Wars.
This I think will be interesting. Give me a cool cape or a hat or something over a title under/over your name any day of the week. This will help players be even more unique as cosmetic variations increase with titles, and it will bring more pride to have gotten the achievement/title. We have already gotten titbits on what Titles will give us with the Hall of Monument Calculator, and if you tell me you want a title over a “Orrian Baby Chicken” following you, then I will call you crazy!
Posted By Inzzy / 28th April 2011
Six years have passed, two additional campaigns and one expansion pack has been released since that time, giving players new and exciting content. It’s hard to image that six years ago I was standing in a store holding a copy of the original Guild Wars in my hand and grinning like a 2-year-old who just had his first taste of candy. Six years ago you met a little girl who followed you around healing you on your quest to become stronger, at that time you though she was cool. Then she was the annoying kid who would not stop following you and talking about her broken flute. Now she is known as the Commander of the Ebon Vanguard and will later be the founder of Ebonhawke, the last stand against the Charr. Six years have passed she has become famous while we still play the same game, whoever said Video Games don’t educate us. Carpe Diem people, Carpe Diem, but not before you celebrate Guild War’s birthday.
This year, like any other year we’ll get the chance to test our luck, stuff our face and belly with sweets and beverages. Some will get you all giddy, some will make you sick, and some will make you find true love…at least until the effect wears off. If you have the need, the need of speed that is then head over to the Rollerbeetle Race and get the adrenalin pumping, or head over to the Dragon Arena where your feet need to move faster than the wind.
But this year there are extra special treats in store. Minipets have been replaced with over 30 new tonics to enjoy and collect, which can be used outside towns. Pre-Searing characters can dress up in their favourite costumes and headgear as 2 new NPCs come to Ascalon City. Razah finally fulfils his role as the Swiss army knife of heroes who can change into any profession you wish.
Odin poses in his birthday suit
There are more changes coming over the next weeks and months. Today the first hard mode quest comes to Tyria and of course it had to be the notorious Villany of Galrath. For the next six weeks the NCSoft store will be offering discounts on different additions to Guild Wars starting with the costumes introduced in Hearts of the North. Over the next 5 weeks it will be the turn of extra storage, character slots, extreme makeovers, the Bonus Mission Pack and Eye of the North, so check back regularly to save yourself some money on your purchases.
Finally the biggest change of the update involves the Lunatic Court that was introduced last Halloween. The instability caused by their actions has caused the Flux era, the name given to a series of new effects in PvP that change over time. Could this be another bridge between Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2 style of combat?
The build is live now so hop in game to check out the goodies and have yourself a slice of the cake. Happy Birthday Guild Wars and here’s to a great many more!
Posted By Inzzy / 16th April 2011
We have waited too long, but lost time will be gained by the strength we show. Those who are foolish enough not to fear us will feel the wrath of our claws and fangs, nothing will stand in our way. Charr bow to no one, specially not to weak humans like yourself. We have defeated you once, and we will prevail once more, we will march into Ebonhawke while humans will flee in terror.
As you might have guessed; Charr Week, next week. ArenaNet will answer all of the questions you have about the charr. Why do they walk on two legs, but sprint on four? Are four ears better than two? Do they shower or clean themselves like cats? Okay, you might not get the answers for these particular questions, but I’m sure we’ll get some cool information and videos regarding the charr.
As an additional teaser, ArenaNet also released this concept art. Let us know what you’re looking forward to finding out below.
Posted By Inzzy / 8th April 2011
We have known for a long time that ArenaNet has a good sense of humour, we have seen this throughout the 5 years the original Guild Wars game has been out with cultural references left and right. I mean, who can forget Zinedine Zidane famous headbutt from the 2006 World Cup (If you watch football/soccer), and then having a boss names after him in the game “Enadiz the Hardheaded” whose elite is “Headbutt” or the time they turned us all into stick-figures, Gwen-chan or changed the genders of our characters (just to name a few). This year is no different, so if you missed it here’s a short recap.
New Professions
Arena Net threw themselves on the “Guess the next profession”-wave and posted what the next is going to be; “The Commando”. Profession Page, skill videos, wallpaper the whole 9-yards. Arena Net really went all out on this one, they even made an in-game quest where you the player could experience how it was going to be to play the Commando in Guild Wars 2.
Filled with Terminator quotes and references this I have to say has topped all the April Fool gags they have done so far, but at the same time I’m worried; Would all the time they spent on this not be better spent on the new “Winds of Change” chapter? Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I didn’t enjoy the effort they did, I did get a nice laugh out of it. “That’s a big chicken”, will be a quote that I will be saying for a very long time from now. But it just seems like a weird time prioritizing, and I hope it will not affect the final result of the “Winds of Change”
Other Fun Stuff
The community also had some fun this year, which is nice to see. “Shadowmancer” is the GW2Wiki’s take on the new profession that is going to be released next and the “Beta Key Hunt” event page made a reappearance from last year. Wartower.de revealed the “The Alchemist” with a website looking so much like the original Guild Wars 2 website, that even I though it was the official site, until I looked at the URL.
Posted By Inzzy / 6th April 2011
I enter a darkly lit room and find my contact sitting at a table. She introduces herself as “Jane” – she does not want to disclose her real name in fear of being tracked down. Most of the windows are covered but some sunlight does manage to get through, making it a little slightly easier to take notes.
Inzzy: Thank you very much for meeting me Jane, I know that you are taking a huge risk in doing so.
Jane: No risk, no reward. That is the motto we live by.
I: It is not often that we see Thieves out in the open, and they are often their own masters. What brought on this change?
J: Times change, and so we must too.
I: Could you be more specific?
J: Once upon a time we were feared, people would lock their doors and windows, not venture out onto the streets when darkness fell. But then the Seraph started to organize and become stronger, people felt safe once again. They would patrol the streets making it harder for us to make a living. So we had to change, we went from being feared Assassins to petty Thieves.
I: You said that you profession had changed throughout the years, could you tell me more about these changes?
J: 250 years ago we were still called Assassins, masters with daggers, we were fast and ruthless. But we have now taken up arms with different weapons, we still hold true to our daggers, but sometimes it’s better to keep your distance. That is why we also use guns, who would have thought that the powder the dwarfs manufactures so many years ago would power small weapons like these.
I: The history books tell us that the Assassins could teleport themselves from location to location, is that still the case?
J: It is, but we like to refer to it as Shadow Stepping these days. Speaking of shadows, you mentioned that there aren’t that many Thieves out in the open these days. That is where you are wrong – just because you cannot see us does not mean that we are not there.
I: What do you mean by that?
J: Not only have we evolved weapon wise we have also gained new abilities to combat the increasingly dangerous environment that we live in, and what better way to combat something when you have an advantage. The advantage of Stealth, or in laymen’s terms; You cannot attack something that you cannot see.
I: That sound useful.
J: Especially when you are out and about and all you want to do is pick pockets. Watching the faces on foes when they discover that they are missing something is priceless.
I: With all these skills and abilities that you have, how do you manage? I know I would be face down in the dirt trying to catch my breath.
J: We are unique. We have spent most of our lives training and training, we no longer get tired from the combat that we do. Although we still need practice avoiding attacks without getting tired, but that is for the next generation to figure out.
I: So what you are trying to tell me is that you have more stamina than a Norn Warrior?
J: No, not at all. We have trained our bodies to be rid of that limitation, but with that came another limitation. We can only initiate or use a certain amount of skills at a time, so we have to be both careful and wise when it comes to what skills are used when.
As I was about to ask the next question a knock on the door was heard; “We know you are in there! Open the door this instant or we’ll be forced to break it down”- The Seraph had found out where we were, “Jane” looked at me and gave me a nod. “I shall be on my way now” –she said as the leapt through the second story window. The next thing I knew the door had been kicked down and I was surrounded by Seraphs, but that is a story for next time.
