If you’ve been living in a cave, you might not have heard that ArenaNet opened the application process for beta events earlier this week. If you haven’t signed up yet, it’s too late for this time — but more than a million folks applied during that 50-hour window. Note that this is not a full open beta: they’re still referring to “beta events” which may mean concentrated weekend testing similar to what they just did for press participants last weekend. If you do get accepted into one of the events, remember that you’ll be under the terms of a non-disclosure agreement, and you won’t be allowed to discuss your experiences until after the NDA period expires. If you missed this sign-up period, we’ve been assured that there will be more opportunities to apply later.

I joked with members of our alliance last night that the only way you’ll know if someone is in the beta is if they suddenly stop talking about Guild Wars 2.

As we had a clear break-point between the start of the press beta test weekend and the Monday release of information from participants, I’ve added a category to list pre-Monday Madness posts from the deluge of posts starting on Monday. For a mind-croggling number of Monday posts, check the aggregation page that Dutch Sunshine has been maintaining throughout the week (with a bit of help from me).

Rather than duplicating what Dutch has done, I’ve just selected information that is not directly related to the beta weekend, plus a few key items that came out of the press beta experience.

• Official Guild Wars 2 news
• Recent GuildMag posts
• Posts before the Monday Madness began
• Fan articles and blog posts after Monday Madness
• Videos and podcasts
• Community events

Official Guild Wars 2 news

• ArenaNet blog — Beta Development Update. “Hey, everyone, Lead Game Designer Eric Flannum here. As most of you know by now, it’s a very exciting time for all of us here at ArenaNet. We just finished a huge beta event weekend, and we’ve got beta events just around the corner. We have a lot of work to do to get the game ready, but we’re definitely up to the challenge and eager to show off the game to a larger audience. With that in mind, we’ve been adding all sorts of new things to the game, as well as revising and improving on as many aspects of the game as we think need it.”
• Guild Wars 2 Beta. “Guild Wars 2 is redefining what is possible in online roleplaying games. We’re casting aside worn out old MMO conventions for a new kind of gaming experience where your character’s story actually matters and your actions really have an impact on the world. Bid farewell to grind and hollow, meaningless quests and enter Tyria, a land of beauty and danger filled with dynamic events that are constantly changing and evolving. With dynamic action-oriented combat, customized personal storylines, intense competitive PvP, and world vs. world battles, Guild Wars 2 has something for every kind of gamer.”
• ArenaNet blog — Mike Ferguson Takes Your WvW Questions Here and on Reddit. “Hello again, everyone! After reading tons of fan reactions to our World vs. World blog post, there were a number of comments and questions that we wanted to touch on to hopefully clarify some things.”
• Reddit — IAmA Guild Wars 2 Game Designer AMA About World vs. World PvP. “Good morning everyone! My name is Mike Ferguson and I’m one of the designers at ArenaNet. Thanks for joining me for this AMA about Guild Wars 2‘s world versus world gametype. [...] As a quick introduction, I’ve been at ArenaNet for almost 6 years and have worked on many of the Guild Wars expansions. I’ve been concentrating on world versus world for the last year and a half, and now I’m here to answer all your questions on it!” [Raphia: If you find the full list hard to read, there's also the summary of just Mike's responses here. We have also created a page in which all Questions and Answers are listed for an easier read which can be found over here.]
• Guild Wars 2 is Exploring Underwater PvP Possibilities ”GameBreaker.tv did a live interview with Jonathan Sharp, Mike Z and Martin Kerstein on the recent Press Beta experiences. While talking about how PvP works in Guild Wars 2 Gary Gannon managed to grab some new information on underwater PvP.”

Recent GuildMag posts

• A New Beginning. “Una nueva etapa comienza. As a fan site, or a site in general, there are a few things that make you proud of what you have achieved. As a project leader, I’ve always dreamt of using GuildMag to spread in depth editorials, lore articles and other fun stuff that the Guild Wars universe is rich of. We also pay great care to anything that the community creates and love to support those that show a heart for the overall community. It’s then a great pleasure to see two things collide: The sharing of knowledge and the power of the community.”
• World vs. World: Have Fun Storming the Castle! “WvW — I’m just going to call it Wuv, because that’s how I feel about it. What is there to love about it? Oh, well let’s just take a look. Actually, let’s stop for a sec. I’m writing this knowing full well that by the time it’s posted, the non-disclosure agreement for the press beta will have lifted and there will be plenty of first-hand experiences of WvW. Still, there’s a lot I’m excited about, so here are some of the elements of WvW I’m most looking forward to.”
• Press Closed Beta Test Aggregation Page. Dutch has been keeping this page on top of just about everything to do with last weekend’s press event. Check the page for more articles and videos than you can possibly stay on top of.
• Guild Wars 2 Press screenshots. “Alongside the beta access, ArenaNet provided the press with a couple of jaw-dropping screenshots. These are definitely worth checking out as it shows Guild Wars 2 on its best. These screenshots include a look at combat, above and underwater environments, WvW, Characters and structures!”
• Origins of the Norn. “In the largest mountain range upon Tyria’s surface dwells an individualistic race of fighters known as the norn. Called half-giants and standing at 9 feet tall with a very human appearance, and capable of transforming into half-animal forms, the origins of these norn have been of some debate for some time. Why do they appear similar to other races? Are there shared roots between the norn and other races, and if so which races do they share a common ancestor with and which do they not? There are quite a few theories, but three among them stand out above the rest. Each theory has deep background for complete understanding and as I cannot include all of such here, I shall list citations for those wishing to further read upon these ideas and reasons.”

Posts before the Monday Madness began

• Wartower.de — Gamescom 2011 Cliffnotes #4: Little Birdy. “No Gamescom demo is ever complete without an epic set-piece moment. The task at hand was to kill a mocking bird, a giant undead death dealing mocking bird to be exact. To make sure nobody misses the giant dragon, the game abandoned all the regular MMO obfuscation and played it straight. If the final version of GW2 is missing such convenience features to direct players towards special event moments, then it will certainly not take long for fansites to come up with something to the same effect. I also expect some guides to describe min-max efforts for having the dragon reappear by meeting certain criteria. If the loot is any good, that is. Big MMO bossfights are hardly ever fought because the gameplay is so brilliant and engaging you get addicted to the encounter itself. Since that is what I am here to find out, let’s click on the button.” [Raphia: Includes a highly amusing aside about fake medieval ruins and the dangers of jumping while wearing chainmail.]
• Nerdy bookahs and their travel guide — Bookahneer’s Geekwatch (February 18, 2012): Hype, where art thou?. “Warning! Today’s Bookahneer’s Geekwatch includes lots of personal opinions and rants. Do not continue reading if that’s not what you like! ;) The thing I have been looking forward to the most has finally been talked about on ArenaNet’s blog: World vs. World. Now, it might be because of stress in my “other life” (aka “real life” which, as I’ve said before, I will not talk about here on my blog. My private life doesn’t belong in a public blog about gaming — or in any public blog, for that matter)… but my reaction when reading this wasn’t “I cannot wait!!” it was “meh”. I kept rolling my eyes thinking: This sounds like Warhammer Online V2.0. Been there, done that, experienced the horrible lag, stuttering, crashing of servers, terribly imbalanced classes and boring huge zergs. “
• Attached to Keyboard — Inquiring Minds Want to Know. “With various press outlets revealing their involvement in the upcoming Guild Wars 2 press beta, and an NDA lifting on the 20th, I thought it’d be fun to compile a few of the things I’ll be hoping get cleared up.”
• Reddit — A couple friendly reminders before tomorrow. “Now, I am certainly not the most hardcore gamer here, nor do I even claim to be the most hardcore follower of GW2, but I have been through a couple long-awaited game cycles, and I thought it would be a good time to throw out a few reminders to help alleviate what will eventually happen. Most of these are mistakes I’ve made before, so excuse me if it sounds a little paternalistic.”
• Dragon Season — Professions: Elementalist. “When ArenaNet developers sat down on the Round Table of Musings, in the legendary Brainstorming Chamber, to discuss which of the first game’s professions would be returning in GW2, spirits soon flared up. Blood started boiling, objects getting hurled in all directions but at very specific targets, words — not necessarily in some recorded or even human language — uttered bombastly and all security personnel was set in red alert. Not much time passed before it was decided, unanimously albeit not necessarily democratically, that the Elementalist would be the first such profession. For, who can mess with the forces of Nature?”

Fan articles and blog posts after Monday Madness

• Distilled Willpower — The Consolegate Affair. “Consolegate (as I wholeheartedly hope it comes to be known) was a telling event for the Guild Wars 2 community. I don’t think I’m being too presumptive to say that those of us who have followed the game for the past few years and watched the community grow from the dregs of those of us left over from the dwindling GW1 community to the bustling metropolis of bloggers, news sites, youtubers and great hoardes of forum-dwellers are at once extatic and terrified of what our humble little posse has become. “
• Under the Pale Tree — Press Beta Roundup. “So, yesterday morning the embargo was dropped on the closed beta test that the press was invited to over the weekend. The information and articles we got in the morning was a veritable flood, and while it may not take a full 40 days and 40 nights to go through it all, it sure is a lot! I’m not even going to try and go through everything; there’s just far too much. [. . .] I’m just going to recap my favorite bits of info that I found going through it all.”
• Demajen — Closer to the Grave: Necromancer Traits. “I’m not a theory crafter. I’ve no real interest in min-maxing my character to squeeze out the last bit of performance. I want to have fun and customise my characters to my playstyle. Guild Wars 2’s trait system looks like it will allow me to do that.”
• Guild Wars 2 Fans — Why so many want Guild Wars 2. “I thought I’d write this up to start an interesting topic on the what if theories and reasons why that perhaps so many people are choosing Guild Wars 2 over many other MMO’s out there today.”
• Massively — The I-word. “I like to poke fun at ArenaNet staff members for their use of the word iteration. That’s not because I think it’s a cop-out or self-aggrandizement or anything. It’s because I like to think of it as being at the top of an internal buzzword sheet with all the blogpost writers trying to work it into their text to earn an extra nickel. It’s a patently whimsical notion, and I have a special spot in my heart for the patently whimsical.”
• Hunter’s Insight — Another ArenaNet Update. “Arenanet announced Guild Wars 2 about 2 or 3 years earlier than most studios would have. The fans were expecting news about upcoming expansions and essentially Arenanet had to explain themselves. That means for the past 2 years we’ve benefited from constant updates but suffered through constant nerd rage calling for a release date. Thus once again we are updated.”
• Through the Pixl Glass — Extended Experiences. “Games used to be a self-contained experience; the moment you closed the program or shut off your console that was it, but not so any more. Some games have enormous systems in place that let players continue their experience outside the confines of the regular game. Now players can buy and sell virtual commodities, show off their avatar’s gear, or chat with guild-mates. Kate Welch is the Web Team Lead for Guild Wars 2 at ArenaNet. She and her team are responsible for things such as the Guild Wars 2 website, box art design, graphic marketing material, and yet-to-be-revealed web platforms which will interface with Guild Wars 2 directly. From a very young age Kate knew exactly what industry she wanted to call home. Through an indomitable will and perseverance, she’s finally found that home at ArenaNet.”
• Massively — Flameseeker Chronicles Extra: Guild Wars 2 crafting explained. “Remember how I wanted to talk to you about crafting in Guild Wars 2? Let’s do that now. I made a video while I was fiddling around with the weaponsmithing and armorsmithing disciplines in the recent Guild Wars 2 closed beta press weekend, and I’ve included it in this extra edition of Flameseeker Chronicles. Let’s take a look at exactly what’s going on for your first 25 points or so in these disciplines.”
• Kill Ten Rats — [GW2 Closed Beta] War Stories. “What is Guild Wars 2 without wars. The Closed Beta had two ways to PvP, random arena PvP up to 10v10 with auto-balanced teams, and World v. World (WvW) where we were assigned to a server to fight for it against two other servers. There were two maps in arena PvP and WvW was fully available with the three identical Borderlands maps and the one central map. This is my story.”
• The Feral Engineer — Engineer Skills (Press Beta). “All skills at level 80 PvP Character” [Raphia: A long post with all the skill information scraped from the beta UI for Engineer skills. If you're thinking of playing an Engineer, this could be helpful.]
• Flamethrowing — Press Beta Updated Skills. “There’s a host of new skills (like the complete Tool Belt!) plus a bunch of name changes and slight mechanic changes. This is the first time we’ve seen a complete Engineer and it looks pretty cool.”
• Necrobator — Beta Impressions on Ten Ton Hammer & PvP Teaser Video. “Just a short post for now to let you know that the first of my beta impressions articles is now up on Ten Ton Hammer for anyone interested. There truly is too much to write about the game to adequately cover in a single article, so this one is more of a “broad strokes” impressions piece vs. going too in-depth about any particular aspects of gameplay. There are, however, two things worth noting…” [Raphia: I loved his "Everything You Need to Know About MMOs" graphic]
• Hunter’s Insight — Jumping Puzzle. “I waited all day yesterday waiting to see a video posted of a jumping puzzle. Not until I walked away from the computer did anyone post anything.”
• Attached to Keyboard — Press Beta Coverage Thoughts. “Like everyone interested in Guild Wars 2 I’ve spent the last few days soaking up the various editorials and videos, and have been struck by how different press members have approached showcasing the game itself. Editorially, I’ve been most interested by those from people who would not consider themselves fans of Guild Wars or MMOs in general. They’ve generally been positive with constructive critism. It’s natural that not everyone will be won over by the game, and despite my frustration last week I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the comments I’ve seen in response to these articles. Faith a little bit more restored.”
• Guild Wars 2 Fans — My finding over the new dev. update post. “Hey everyone prepare for a wall of text, in this thread I will be writing what I think of the updates Arenanet recently posted. So let’s jump right into it shall we. I will be doing it in the same order as the post does.”
• Kill Ten Rats — Sunrise on the Plains of Ashford. “Fanfic Warning: the following is part of my actual play in the press beta written “in voice.” I just needed to write something quick in a different way because my PvE article is getting monstrous. It’s a small, early part of the charr zone in Plains of Ashford. I had started there when I found the servers had opened early like my bud, Lewis B at Tap Repeatedly [...]. Hope you enjoy, but if you don’t… you’ve been warned.”
• Demajen — Guild Wars 2 Beta Signups. “Ladies and gentlemen, are you gambling people? Because it is time to play the beta signup lottery.”
• Distilled Willpower — The Dolyak in the Room. “Anyone who gets into the beta will be under a very strict non-disclosure agreement (NDA), under this NDA you will be unable to talk about the contents of the beta to your family, friends, co-workers, electricians or fellow BDSM dungeon attendees. You won’t even be able to mention that you are part of the beta. This level of security is totally understandable from ArenaNet; they are letting an undisclosed number of lay-people play around with their unfinished product totally free. If we started spreading screenshots or secretly recording it could totally ruin the whole release plan which I’m sure the guys in Seattle have been planning for years. There will probably be the unscrupulous few who break this agreement, but I’m sure the retribution will be swift and merciless!”
• Guild Wars 2 Junkies — The Basics of Guild Wars 2: Abilities and Class Mechanics. “With last weekend’s major media coverage of Guild Wars 2 there are many people just now starting to pay attention. There are a lot of questions out there of how the game works, how it’s played and what makes it different. Luckily for you, we here at Guild Wars Junkies are paying attention and are here to help you figure everything out. The one question we want to tackle is how abilities and class mechanics are available to you at any given point. In games like WOW, TOR and Rift, players are used to having multiple hotbars with a myriad of abilities readily available to you. How does it work in Guild Wars 2? All the videos you’ve seen showed you a single hotbar at the bottom of the screen and not much else. Are you concerned that there aren’t many options and things might get stale?”
• Greibach’s Normal Form — The Big Beta Barrage, Part 1: Traits. “If you haven’t been living under a rock for the past week, all the news has been centered around the GW2PCB event. Dozens and dozens of videos, articles, anecdotes, and analyses later, there is still a huge amount of information being revealed to us daily. I don’t know if it’s even possible to cover all of it in one place shy of simply linking to most of it, but GuildMag and GuildWars2Guru already have that covered. I wasn’t in the beta myself, so all that I can comment on is content that has been published by others, but honestly, that’s what I do anyway, so that shouldn’t be a problem. Over the course of the next few days/weeks I will try to cover the news that really stood out to me aside from the obvious. Of course, today (the 22nd) ANet officially put up the registration for regular people to get into the beta events in the future, but aside from excitement, there isn’t actually much else to say. Good luck! Anyway, as indicated by the title, this post is going to be about the revamped trait system.”
• zam.com — Guild Wars 2‘s Character and Crafting Mechanics. “During the Press Beta Weekend, Guild Wars 2 revealed itself as a complex game made up of several simple systems all working together. From the wholesale change to the way skills and abilities are gained and used, to the overlaid Trait system and augmentations brought through Crafting, there’s a whole lot going on under the surface. One of the most radical MMO innovations brought by Guild Wars 2 is in the area of character skills and abilities. Instead of opening up a sea of action bars that cover most of the screen, ArenaNet has focused on limiting players to ten active skills during combat. The great news is that there’s a whole range of choice and complexity lurking under the hood just waiting to be tapped.”
• The Vigilant — Guild Wars 2 Beta. “If you’re reading this blog you’re most likely a die-hard fan of Guild Wars 2 who is eagerly awaiting its release. You also jumped at the opportunity to sign up for a chance to get into the beta test yesterday. I also signed up and hope that I get into a beta event. Months ago, I wanted to play the game primarily to see if it was going to live up to the hype. However, after watching a lot of the videos being released from the Press CBT, I don’t have any worries about the game being good or being something that I’ll enjoy. I already know that it will be.”
• Shewstr — The Music of Guild Wars 2. “Alright, folks. If it has not become evident by now, Jeremy Soule’s work is a product of creativity, experience, and as he put it before, luck. Guild Wars 2′s score is no exception to this. Soule has said that composers are not confined to a style, and while I agree with this fact, I also believe that music is a product of creativity and what one has listened to throughout his/her life. There tend to be commonalities across the set of a composer’s compositions, and having listened to Jeremy Soule’s scores to the Harry Potter video games, The Elder Scrolls, and Guild Wars, I have found that overall, his work melds together ambiance and melodies well. Some Guild Wars players have expressed their opinions that his battle music is slightly damp, and while I will agree that there are damp overtones in a few of his battle-themed compositions, the Guild Wars 2 soundtrack contains examples of bright/upbeat compositions, one of which, coincidentally enough, is a charr-themed composition” [Raphia: This blog post includes samples from Guild Wars 2.]
• Hunter’s Insight — The Details In The Beta. “There are so many things I want to touch on from the recent Beta videos that making an individual post seemed like the best course. I can’t imagine making an entire post to talk about crafting or achievements when overall there is little I want to say about them.”
• Nerdy bookahs and their travel guide — Guild Wars 2 and its server transfers. “We still don’t know every detail about this. Although maybe there’ll be more now in the Reddit interview that Mike Ferguson does… right now? Anyway, have a look at the latest ArenaNet blog post or just read the next paragraph about server transfers here”

Videos and podcasts

• YouTube — SageLikeOne on the Guild Wars 2 Personal Story. “This week’s By Popular Request is on the topic of the personal story of Guild Wars 2.”
• Gamebreaker.tv — GuildCast: Stop The Presses. “During the NCSoft earnings call, the presenters acknowledged that Guild Wars 2 would eventually make it to consoles. Following that, the ArenaNet community team confirmed that, in fact, there is a small team working to convert the highly anticipated MMORPG to consoles. However, the developers were quick to say that the team is exploring it but it’s not a guarantee that it will ever launch. Given the lack of subscriptions in Guild Wars 2, it is very possible that the PC-to-console conversion could be a lucrative prospect. Our panel believes the possibility is there, and we welcome it.”
• Tales of Tyria — When Worlds Collide. “We finally got a ton of info regarding the World v. World mode in Guild Wars 2. Not only that, but the Press Beta just ended and there’s tons of new info about EVERYTHING! So much info we had to split this monster of a show in two. This is part 1 of Episode 19, dedicated to everything WvW.”
• Tales of Tyria — The Day the NDA Died. “Here we have part 2 of our Press Beta coverage. In this episode you can expect to find everything not related to World v. World. We discuss our initial reactions to the gameplay videos, as well as all the new systems we got some details on.”
• Gamebreaker.tv — ArenaNet Hosts Giant Event At End Of Guild Wars 2 Press Beta. “The end of a beta is often a sad time for gamers wanting just a few more gleeful minutes of play time in their precious, unreleased game. Guild Wars fans might recall a horde of invincible Gwen clones incinerating everyone at the end of a 2005 beta, and at the conclusion of the recent Guild Wars 2 press beta weekend, ArenaNet upped the ante by sending a humungous giant into the Human capital city to wreak havoc and for players to actually fight — if they could see it. Gary Gannon’s video of this end-of-beta event gives you an idea of the scope of this final epic confrontation. So what kind of diabolical twist will the GW2 devs have for us at the end of the next beta? We’ll have to wait and see…”
• Gamebreaker.tv — Guildcast Dissects ArenaNet’s Guild Wars 2 Beta Weekend. “You may have heard that Guild Wars 2 had a beta this weekend. If not, then welcome back from that coma because this is the most anticipated MMO in a long time. Our intrepid Guildcast crew stocked up on food and caffeine and spent the weekend pouring over the luscious world that ArenaNet has created. We have you covered with more beta insight than you can shake a Charr at — though please do watch out for those teeth.”
• YouTube — Guild Wars 2 Scenery Montage by ManaObscura. “A short look at some of the incredible scenery in Guild Wars 2, showing some of the breathtaking views and intricate cities. Don’t forget to switch up to high-definition for the detail!”
• Gamebreaker.tv — ArenaNet System Designer Confirms Underwater Combat for Guild Wars 2. “We all know how much excitement we get from underwater combat in most MMOs: zero. However, many players extol the underwater combat of Guild Wars 2. I have not tried it myself, but multiple people I know have be more than impressed with the fluidity (no pun intended) and dexterity of the characters while underwater. During the interview with Gary Gannon earlier this evening, Systems Designer Jonathan Sharp was elated over how well the combat system performed during testing so far.”
• Gamebreaker.tv — ArenaNet’s Martin Kerstein Explains Guild Wars 2 Queue Killer. “Martin Kerstein made one of his regular Guild Wars Guru appearances to reveal a remarkable feature of Guild Wars 2: overflow servers. Many games have suffered with complaints about full servers, particularly at launch. Star Wars: The Old Republic, Aion, and more have felt the wrath of inconvenienced players stuck in server queues — for hours in extreme cases. ArenaNet has an innovative answer to the problem.”
• Gamebreaker.tv — This TWIMMO: Guild Wars 2 Beta, The Secret World Launch Date. “It was a slow news week for the TWIMMO crew. I mean, there was only the Guild Wars 2 beta last weekend, The Secret World announcing its release date, oh, and the new Gamebreaker.tv site launched. So tune in next week when – OK, not so much. Mike B aka Fony (aka “Ghetto Parkour”) got the most time in the Guild Wars 2 beta and enlightens the masses as to his character creation, PvE, and PvP experiences. Host Gary Gannon then quizzes Mike on his WvW experience, and then, finally, they let Mike Schaffnit talk, as he addresses the issue of Guild Wars 2 as the “WoW Killer.””

Community Events

To no real surprise, with all the beta activities this week, we didn’t get any notice of community events this week.

This section is intended to help you to publicize your guild or alliance event, and as long as your event is open to the whole Guild Wars community, we’ll list it here. Send us the details at community@guildmag.com and we’ll get it out to the fan community (given that we only do a weekly wrap-up, try to send the information at least a week in advance).