This week in Guild Wars 2

Posted by on August 24, 2012 in , | | 9 Responses

This week’s community round-up is a day early, because let’s be honest: who’d be still around to read it if it came out just moments before the Guild Wars 2 servers go live for the headstart? I’ll continue updating the column over Friday, but I know it’s just something to keep you occupied until you can log in for real.

ArenaNet implemented the various racial dances in time for Tuesday’s stress test: lots and lots of folks were inspired to to music videos. I stopped adding them, because there were just too many of ‘em. On the other hand, we have an absolute plethora of fan fiction pieces this week…

Update: I’ve started adding links to material that has been posted since yesterday afternoon. You can find them easily as they’ll have a tag like this: Added.

Official Guild Wars 2 news

  • ncsoft.com — gamescom 2012 charrrity challenge. “With NCsoft and ArenaNet currently looking after the hordes of faithful fans and visitors at gamescom, there is no better place to start a big human challenge. Therefore we are proud to present you a charity initiative sponsored by NCsoft and ArenaNet that will take place while you’ll be all enjoying gamescom’s madness. At the centre of our efforts is GamesAid, a UK video games industry based charity that supports multiple youth based charities that are nominated and selected for funding by members of the games industry.”
  • GW2 Guru — Interview with Martin Kerstein at gamescom 18th August. “A guildie of mine has just come back from gamescom where she had a long conversation with Martin Kerstein, who very kindly agreed to answer some of my questions for us. These are her notes from the interview.”
  • GuildWars2.com — Guild Wars 2 “Fear Not This Night” Song Now Available. “The first song from Guild Wars 2 is now available on iTunes. Produced and composed by Jeremy Soule and performed by Asja, Fear Not This Night is a hauntingly beautiful song from the Guild Wars 2 Soundtrack. “
  • IGN — The Winner of the IGN People’s Choice Award is…Guild Wars 2, which received over a quarter of your votes. “Guild Wars 2 has won the IGN People’s Choice Award 2012 with over a quarter of votes cast being awarded to the hotly-anticipated MMO. The PC exclusive title beat out 49 competitors in a list of games assembled by IGN editors from across the globe out of titles that were on display on the show floor in Cologne. The winner of last year’s inaugural award was DOTA 2, which is similarly only in development for PC. Despite Guild Wars 2 walking away with the top prize, a number of other titles did well enough to be commended.”
  • PC Gamer — Guild Wars 2 writer on MMO storytelling and “sneakily getting the player to tell us what kind of game they want”. “Telling a coherent story in an MMO is no easy thing. It’s difficult enough in a singleplayer game, where writers and designers only have to deal with a single perspective, a single set of player motivations. Telling a story to thousands of online players is like trying to deliver a speech to a crowd at a funfair: you’ll get some people to listen, but you’ll lose just as many if not more to the merry-go-rounds, the shooting galleries, the things they’re really there for. I spoke to ArenaNet lore and continuity designer Ree Soesbee about how the Guild Wars 2 writing team has chosen to approach that challenge, as well as the difficulty imposed by having a fully-voiced player character and the importance of providing light-hearted moments alongside drama and tragedy.”
  • New York Post — Guild Wars 2 developer interview: ‘It’s gonna be awesome’. “Guild Wars was a high-water mark in gaming. A fantasy MMORPG from NCSoft and ArenaNet that eschewed the idea of monthly fees and thrilled critics and gamers alike. Now, we’re about a week away from the release of Guild Wars 2, which is promising to blow even its predeccesor out of the water. Guild Wars 2 dev Matt Wuerffel took some time out of his frantic production schedule to indulge some of my questions over the phone.”
  • PC Gamer — Guild Wars 2 PvP designer talks e-sports, spectator mode and streaming. “During the final beta weekends, players jumping into Guild Wars 2′s structured PvP maps may have noticed the first signs of its broader e-sports aspirations, like the tournament tickets granted as rank-up rewards. The first Guild Wars had a booming competitive scene – it is, after all, an MMO named after its PvP mode – and according to systems designer Jonathan Miller, the sequel is going to take things much further.”
  • NOW Gamer — Guild Wars 2‘s Mike Zadorojny Talks Launch Plans, eSport And The Future. “We chat to Guild Wars 2 game designer Mike Zadorojny about ArenaNet’s planning for a smooth launch and how it will keep players engaged post-launch.”
  • GuildWars2.com — Bill Freist Talks Optimization and Performance. “Hey, everyone, I’m Bill Freist. I’m here to discuss two topics we’ve been seeing a lot of questions about over the last few months: optimization and performance.”
  • GuildWars2.com — Claiming your Hall of Monuments Rewards. “When we announced the start of Guild Wars 2 development, players responded with enthusiasm and a whole lot of questions. One of the most common questions we received was whether there would be some sort of “historical link” between Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2 and whether they could somehow show off their Guild Wars accomplishments in Guild Wars 2.”
  • PC Gamer — Guild Wars 2 systems designer talks skill design, depth and balancing. “ArenaNet have been vocal about the way they’re trying to redesign the MMO. Guild Wars 2′s design manifesto is a confident statement of intent that has faced intense scrutiny of the course of the game’s beta programme – and rightly so. MMOs have been the site of some of gaming’s promises, and biggest disappointments. The manifesto promises a combat system that will do away with the “rote and repetitive” nature of most MMOs, replacing it with something “immediate, active, and visceral” that provides players with “limitless choices.””
  • MSNBC — Video interview with Mike O’Brien and Daniel Dociu.
  • Added MSNBC — Interview with Mike O’Brien and Daniel Dociu on the art of GW2.
  • Added GuildWars2.com — John Smith on the Guild Wars 2 Virtual Economy. “Hello, all! I’m John Smith, and I’ve recently had the unbelievable opportunity to join the ArenaNet team and work on Guild Wars 2 as the resident economist. Guild Wars 2 has an incredible virtual economy — one of the largest ever created. I’m excited about the opportunity to study and help mold the economy for Guild Wars 2. As Guild Wars 2 goes live and becomes a living world, I will be continually learning about its evolving economy, and as I learn I’d like to share my most interesting findings with you.”
  • Added GuildWars2.com — Welcome to the Guild Wars 2 Online Manual. “This guide will provide you with the basic information you’ll need to begin your adventure in Tyria, the massive online world of Guild Wars 2. Here you’ll find enough basic information to cover the first hour of gameplay. When it comes to mastering the more advanced concepts, don’t worry! Instead of overwhelming players, Guild Wars 2 is designed to introduce gameplay elements over time, and we’ll provide you with in-game tips and tricks as you play.”
  • Added On the official Guild Wars 2 Facebook page: “You are now able to link your Guild Wars account to your Guild Wars 2 account, if you have not already done so, by visiting http://account.guildwars2.com/. For more information please visit http://en.support.guildwars2.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9028.”
  • Added On the official Guild Wars 2 Facebook page: “Guild Wars 2 head start is finally approaching! Yay! To make sure that all your questions are answered, here is a roundup of some useful information and links”
  • Added GuildWars2.com — Free Guild Wars 2 ‘Celebration Hat’ Available for a Limited Time Only! “To commemorate the launch of Guild Wars 2, we’re making a special hat available to all players for free! The Celebration Hat is a baseball cap with the iconic Guild Wars 2 dragon logo — a stylish addition to your town attire!”
  • Added The Tyrian Order — TTO Interviews – ArenaNet’s William Fairfield. “Hi William, thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to answer some questions with us. For our community members who aren’t aware of who you are and what you do – could you tell them a little bit about yourself?”
  • Added Washington Post — Guild Wars 2: Making MMOs more social, more accessible. “In an interview with The Washington Post, the game’s lead producer, Chris Whiteside, and publisher NCsoft’s executive vice president of publishing, Matt Turetzky, said that the new version of the game should be a breath of fresh air to people who’ve tried and grown tired of previous MMOs.”

Recent GuildMag posts

  • Age of Deceit – Abyss Unleashed. “The stormy waves washed upon his broken body, trying to crush him and prevent him from fulfilling his destiny. Noxallis, with the last ounce of his strength, threw himself ashore and stretched out on the jagged rocks. He turned to his back and stared at the dark clouds above: their threatening visage promised a great storm, but there was no sign of rain coming aside from distant, low thunders.”
  • ArenaNet Thanks Fans At Gamescom ’12. “During the final days at Gamescom 2012, ArenaNet has conducted a Guild Wars 2 Community Party for the fans who have attended the said event. With a few days left until the game’s headstart, Martin Kerstein, Head of ANet’s Community Team, took the chance to extend his gratitude towards the community.”
  • Martin Kerstein on Launch and Beyond. “During gamescom we asked to submit your questions to us over twitter so that we could take them and have them answered by Martin Kerstein. While he couldn’t answer all of your questions, in our interview we did manage to talk about the upcoming launch, updates for the future, the extended experience and more!”
  • Raphia’s August 21st stress test journal. “On a personal note, I’d like to say thanks to the kind folks at ArenaNet tech support for resolving the issue I was having with my desktop machine and GW2 updates not loading. It took a while to work through all the possible causes, but they were patient and professional and a pleasure to deal with. The problem wouldn’t have kept me from playing GW2 completely, but it would have meant using my laptop (my primary work machine) and it’s never a good idea to mix work and pleasure.”
  • GW2 Dance Moves For All Races. “A bunch of new content has been added in the recent August 21 Stress Test. Aside from the Deluxe and Collector’s Edition items that were made available, they also added the new sPvP map, the Hall of Monuments item, and finally, everyone shared the fun with the “DANCE” feature. If ever you haven’t tried it yourself and if some of you are wondering where the dance moves came from, then check this video below! Do the shuffle!”
  • Guild Wars 2 Countdown Dekstop Gadget. “We made a tiny little program called: Guild Wars 2 Countdown. This program is made for Guild Wars 2 fans that can’t wait to enter the world of Tyria. You can see how many days, hours, minutes, seconds and even milliseconds are left until the gates open to the beautiful world of the next generation MMO!”
  • Added Raphia’s August 23rd stress test journal. “Having missed last night’s brief stress test, I had to get into the 1 hour stress test announced for Thursday afternoon.”

Fan articles and blog posts

  • Gaming World Entertainment Network (GWEN) — Stay awhile and listen! “Welcome to the new Gaming World Entertainment website! What does this mean? Why have things changed?! Luckily the answers are fairly simple. We wanted to make things easier and clearer for you, our readers and community to understand. The most important change for you to make note of is our decision to integrate social media. Some of you may be wondering were our forum is and I have good news and bad news for you! The bad news is it’s gone, it’s over, it has died of dysentery. The good news is you don’t need the forums any more. You can now log in to comment using your Twitter or Facebook accounts and if you have shunned all social media you can also just register with the site to comment independently. Our hope is this will make things much more accessible and we encourage all of you to jump in and voice your opinions, share ideas…you know how it goes!”
  • Guild Wars 2 Hub — Guild to Battle of Khylo. “In this guide to one of Guild Wars 2‘s structured PvP maps we revisit Battle of Khylo, while providing you with a whole host of Do’s and Dont’s so you know just what to do when you take part.”
  • Malefic Incantations — Missing In Action: Guesting. “Well, yesterday’s news confirmed one of my fears for the launch of GW2: guesting will not be available at launch. If you don’t know what guesting is, it’s a feature that promises to let you play PvE with your friends on other servers for free. In a past post I lauded guesting as something that really sets GW2 apart from the antisocial server model of traditional MMO’s that keeps people apart. While they never made a binding promise that it would be available at launch, they certainly intended it to be”
  • Divinity’s Reach — Tin Foil Hat Edition: The Inevitable Launch Trailer. “A couple of days ago, I wrote about the intricacies of CGI trailers and the implications of them for the industry. It seems like ArenaNet is innovating the market strategy for trailers in a very similar manner that I proposed in the article. Instead of using it as a purely marketing ploy, they may use it as a reward to the current and future players.”
  • Guild Wars 2 Hub — Resource Camp, Tower, and Keep Siege Guide. “World vs. World combat in Guild Wars 2​ is focused primarily around assaulting and defending resource camps, towers, and keeps. Ranging from just a group or two, to a world effort, assaulting these controllable objectives provides score for your world and vast rewards for those participating.”
  • GW2 Guru — New Gemstore Items. “there are a couple of new options in the online gemstore”
  • manylaughs — Guild Wars 2: 5 things you need to know about choosing your home world. “As Guild War 2′s headstart period and official release dates near (August 25th and August 28th, respectively), you’re probably getting awfully anxious to get started. But there’s one important decision you need to consider before you start playing. Unlike so many other MMOs, choosing your GW2 world – i.e. your server – is an important decision. Why? Because once you choose your world, all your characters will have to be created on the same world. In other words, you can’t have different characters on different servers (Unless, maybe, you buy two or more licenses of the game.).”
  • Guild Wars 2 Hub — Necromancer Skill Lines. “Along with mastering the various weapon sets you’ll have access to, it can be equally important to understand the various skill lines each profession brings to the table. In this guide we’ll be taking a closer look at the skill lines for the necromancer profession, including notes on themes, supporting traits, and any shared functionality in combat.”
  • Nerdy Bookahs — Guild Wars 2 at GamesCom 2012. “You may remember that we have already written a report on ArenaNet’s booth last year, so of course, we’re going to write another one this year. Last year, we went to GamesCom on two days, Thursday and Saturday, which means that our experiences and observations came from two different days. Saturday is usually the busiest day, but we decided against going there again on a Saturday this year. It was simply too crowded for my liking. And there is no way I am going to do that again. While I don’t panic when I’m within a crowd, it’s not a pleasant feeling either. So we only went on Thursday this year which was just crowded enough to not make me feel uncomfortable.”
  • Guild Wars 2 Hub — Guide to Forest of Niflhel. “In this guide to one of Guild Wars 2‘s structured PvP maps we revisit Forest of Niflhel, while providing you with a whole host of Do’s and Dont’s so you know just what to do when you take part. “
  • Guild Wars 2 Mini-Pets & Miniatures — “Everything you need to know about Mini Pets & Miniatures in GW2. Got to Catch Em All!” [Raphia: A new GW2 blog focusing on the little things in Tyrian life.]
  • Guild Wars Insider — The Case of the Mysterious Eye. “Recently, we’ve seen two pictures emerge from the vaults of ArenaNet. They’ve sparked speculation, rumor and conspiracy. Therefore, as a Guild Wars 2 fan, a lore junkie, and unfortunately fervant fan of conspiracy theories, I’d like to take a moment discuss these two images (as well as a third which I believe is very important) with you, and offer my thoughts on where these could be leading.”
  • Guild Wars 2 Hub — Complete Skill Challenge Guide to Queensdale. “While a player automatically receives skill points for leveling, you can also gain additional points by undertaking various skill challenges. These skill challenges are present in every zone and GuildWars2Hub.com offers this complete guide to skill challenges in Queensdale.”
  • Nerdy Bookahs — Pictures of the Guild Wars 2 Collector’s Edition. “Somebody mentioned picking up their Collector’s Edition yesterday and after being a bit jealous, I realized that if they had been able to pick up theirs, maybe we can go pick up ours as well. A little Google search showed that both, Saturn and Media Markt, were handing out the pre-purchased Collector’s Editions, so half an hour later, we were back home with our two boxes.”
  • Guild Wars Insider — Press Play To Begin: A Beginner’s Guide To Guild Wars 2. “On Saturday, August 25, ArenaNet will open its servers to the world of Guild Wars 2 prepurchasers with head-start access. When they set foot in Tyria for the first time, an entire world of content awaits them. But for some, the contents of that world are still a mystery. Crafting disciplines remain untouched, professions remain unexplored. You make a daunting number of decisions when you first create a character, and we’re here to ensure that your early decisions are well-informed.”
  • GWOnline.net — 6 Professions I Will Play in Guild Wars 2. “I’m an alt-a-holic. But not just that, I do feel that professions in Guild Wars 2 are unique enough from each other that there is much replay value in playing multiple characters. So I narrowed down my list of personal must-play professions to 6.”
  • GW2 Guru — Guru‘s Public Mumble Server Reboot! “With Guild Wars 2 only a week away, we thought it would be a good time to reboot our public Mumble server! This VoIP will be available free of use for the GW2 community as a whole. If your guild or PvP team is in need of a private channel, we can provide that for you as well!”
  • TalkTyria.net — The Power of Choice. “Choice is incredibly important in all facets of life. Ranging from simple choices, like what to eat for lunch, to complex and life-changing decisions, like getting a new job or buying a house, our lives are dominated by choice. Many computer games (notably recent RPGs such as the Mass Effect series or The Witcher series) give players important choices to make, each of which can affect the outcome of the game. I am a big fan of having choice in games. The power to choose where you want to go, what you want to do, and how you go about doing it. Freedom of choice, I believe, is vital for a game to thrive, especially an MMORPG. Luckily, Guild Wars 2 has choices in abundance. Follow along after the break for a brief breakdown of choice in Guild Wars 2.”
  • Hunter’s Insight — Raindrops on Roses, Whiskers on Kittens. “ArenaNet takes pride in the depth of Guild Wars 2. They’ve crafted each bit meticulously and with great emphasis on breathing life into their world. These details aren’t essential to gameplay, but the extra touches set Tyria apart from other more generic worlds.”
  • Divinity’s Reach — Tin Foil Hat Continuation. “I originally posted this as a comment below the first article. However, I have substantial reason to believe I am right…(and no, ArenaNet you do not have a leak. I just have a highly imaginative, but very likely accurate idea of your plans. I was recently on a fourteen hour roadtrip, so I had some time on my hands to speculate.)”
  • GWOnline.net — 5 races I will play in Guild Wars 2. “A cookie for you if you figured out from the title that I’ll be playing all races. Every race has its own storylines, and while I don’t plan on playing multiple times through, I just have to at least play once per race. And my favorite race gets two playthroughs. Well, at least until they release new professions…”
  • Guild Wars 2 Hub — Intro Guide to Crafting. “A longtime staple in MMOGs, crafting systems grant players the ability to create a variety of items, such as armor, weapons, consumables and more. In this guide to crafting in Guild Wars 2, we introduce you to the eight crafting disciplines and the types of items each one can produce, along with an overview of the crafting interface, and obtaining components through gathering and salvage kits.”
  • Hunter’s Insight — Eye See What You Did There. “Arenanet is known to play a bit with hinting at upcoming events and I guess they’re at it again. Fans have noticed a number of recurring images in well placed positions in videos and on facebook. The following images were found in this album uploaded on the 15th.”
  • Guild Wars 2 Junkies — Putting the Monthly Sub Fee to Shinier Uses. “As we round the final bend toward Guild Wars 2′s launch, it’s impossible to not notice the rising storm of excitement, anticipation, and– well, there’s no sense in beating around the bush– hype. There, I said it. GW2 is carrying a lot of hype right now. MMO players are eager for something new, something shiny, and most importantly– something different. As most modern MMO fans know, hype can be a risky business, but GW2 has a lot of things going right for it so far.”
  • Guild Wars Insider — Endgame Tweaks and GvG In The Works. “HeroYouFear of ptrealms.com forums and teamquitter.com published his findings from gamescom today, which revealed a few interesting tidbits that they described as written below” [Raphia: The contents of this post havw been pretty strongly refuted by Colin Johanson, posting at GW2 Guru.]
  • Guild Wars Insider — GW2 Beginner’s Guide: The Beginning. “We were all new players (“newbs”) at one point in time, wandering about, gawking at the world and wondering what happened to our gold right after that Thief bumped into us. The process of transitioning from wide eyed newb to hardened veteran can be challenging in any game, it’s especially so in an MMO. Guild Wars 2 has so many facets to the game ranging from player versus player (PvP) formats, crafting, personal stories and the massive World versus World (WvW) territory PvP format that it can be overwhelming to the new player.”
  • Arena Junkies — Tips for PVP Engineers. “Hi guys. Coming from a Druid in WoW I was instantly drawn to the Engineer class, whose kits (secondary weapons) are somewhat of a spiritual successor to the numerous forms a druid has. Currently the kits are unfortunately a bit weak in most cases, but due to the fact that each kit gives you 5 new skills, they usually have one or two abilities that are pretty great.”
  • Kill Ten Rats — Reigning Expectations. “Guild Wars 2 is coming. I think it will be a great game. I also know that it is not just a game; it is a service. Like a good MMO service the actual game part will be a living, growing document. Events found unworkable or unfun might get cut or replaced. Mechanics might get tweaked or wholly reworked. Zones might get added or changed. The only sure thing is impermanence.”
  • GW2 Guru — Athenaeum Chamber – Detailed Discussion. “Introducing… new crafting and trading forums!”
  • GWOnline.net — 4 Ways to play Guild Wars 2. “Guild Wars 2 isn’t just one game, rather, it has different content types that are built with different types of players in mind. They all sound great to me, but for quite different reasons.”
  • Guild Wars 2 Hub — Guild Wars 2 vs. Metacritic. “A topic that has been playing on my mind recently, with the impending release of Guild Wars 2, is how it will actually fair in reviews when it is officially. It is fair to say that both Sardu and I are heavily invested in the game and if we didn’t consider it an exceptional product, it’s highly unlikely we would be playing it or even running Guild Wars 2 Hub. With that in mind, Metacritic now plays a huge part in publisher perception of what is or isn’t a great product. Funcom recently bemoaned the lack of sales of The Secret World as an attributing factor to its share price plummeting, blaming Metacritic and its aggregated scores of their product as the cause.”
  • Divinity’s Reach — Ramblings of Inconsequence. “I am continually amazed by the companies that take on MMOs. Imagine being tasked to create a world. Suddenly, you are forced into being a theologian, ecologist, geologist, philosopher, cartographer, scientist, and a writer. You must fabricate races and fully realize the relationships within and between each race. Hierarchies, political structures, histories of long-forgotten wars, all of this must be wrought before a world can be fully formed. As a creator, you aren’t simply forging a plastic world, you are establishing a complex of multi-faceted domains that must feel cohesive in nature.”
  • Nerdy Bookahs — Giveaway No. 2: Two GW2 Charrlies. “Here is our second part of the post-GamesCom giveaway. We got two Charrlie plushies which is really great. Unfortunately – or fortunately for you, depending on how you’re looking at it – we already have two. If you look at the picture on the left, you can see that my own Charrlie did not want to accept the newcomers! Thus, we are looking for new owners for those two (the packaged ones, of course).”
  • Guild Wars Insider — Death becomes you: Rolling Necro 101. “Launch is just a few days away! If you’re still in a quandary over which profession to pick, BOTH of our Necromancer columnists, Vims and Sryii (with his comments in italics), will do their darndest to swing you over to their side.”
  • Gamebreaker.tv — Why Orr Will Be Vital in Arenanet’s Guild Wars 2. “This weekend the wait is finally over. Guild Wars 2’s headstart begins and all of those early adopters who pre-purchased the game can rampage across Tyria without fear of character wipes or the fleeting glimpses given by stress tests. The game is fully and finally arriving.”
  • Guild Wars Insider — Words with Wooden Potatoes (Part 1). “Many of you have probably watched his daily Guild Wars 2 countdown videos on YouTube or his run-throughs of dungeons and jumping puzzles… For today, Guild Wars 2 lore buff WoodenPotatoes sat down with us and gave us a some answers to questions that had been itching at us ever since his countdown started in the 50-day range.”
  • Under the Pale Tree — A fond farewell. “If you have not yet seen the Wayfarer’s Reverie quests in Guild Wars, do yourself a favor and go check them out. Not because you get a Tormented weapon for completing them all…but because it’s a lovely, nostalgic look back at a game that many of us played for years.”
  • Demajen — Starting a Guild from Scratch. “I’ve led several guilds over the years, in a handful of MMOs. None of them have been for more than 15 or so people, which suited me fine. They were close communities of likeminded individuals, many of whom had similar playstyles and playtimes. More than that number would have invariably meant confusing-as-Hell guild chat.”
  • GW2 Guru — ingame-model previews for HoM Weapons. “Missing weapons from this list are the Gnarled Walking Stick and the Ice Breaker. “
  • Killabytes Online — GW2 – Fit for the jaded MMO player. “Guild Wars 2 has a lot of things going for it. One of those things that strikes a chord with people like me is its accessibility and accommodation for the jaded MMO player.”
  • Gaiscioch — Jerich’s Guild Wars 2 Crafting Guide. “Note: I will try to update this guide after launch as we get more information (it may be slow, though, because I am pretty busy).”
  • Ten Ton Hammer — I’d Rather Be Playing Guild Wars 2 – 25 Reasons Why You’ll Love It, Too. “Let me get this clear from the start: I’d rather be playing Guild Wars 2. Instead, I’m here writing about it. I’m a gamer on a mission.”
  • GWOnline.net — 3 Stories of Guild Wars 2. “Guild Wars 2 put a lot of effort into their personal stories. And much of that effort when into giving you choices. Even during character creation, you get to pick a story that you will experience in the early game. What I find interesting in this branching is that they tend to branch by three’s.”
  • Massively — Flameseeker Chronicles: The end of an era for Guild Wars. “The countdown on Guild Wars 2‘s official site has ticked away to almost nothing. The Guild Wars 2 community is getting increasingly anxious, and at the same time, the Guild Wars community is getting increasingly sappy. Tapping into both of those sentiments, ArenaNet set up a celebration that started this last weekend and will run until August 30th. The celebration, called Wayfarer’s Reverie, gives players a chance to celebrate their time spent in Guild Wars and rewards them, at the end, with a Tormented weapon, which, depending on their Hall of Monuments progress, could give them up to two points.”
  • Guild Wars Insider — GW2 Guide to Crafting: Huntsman 1-75. “The huntsman crafting discipline provides players with a means of crafting ranged weapons. Longbows, shortbows, harpoons and more can be made with this discipline, and these will be useful for most of the professions in the game (Elementalists cannot use any of the created items). As with any crafting discipline, you are going to need a good amount of materials either through farming or through purchasing on the Trading Post.”
  • PCGamesN — Eight reasons why Guild Wars 2 is going to be 2012′s best MMO. “Seven days. 176 hours. Many minutes. That’s all the time between you and Guild Wars 2. If you’ve already bought the game, it’s even less than that. Let’s just say it’s some hours. A few days. It’s about the right time to engage your excitement glands.”
  • Hunter’s Insight — Notes on the Stress Test 3. “Lovely bit of testing today as Arenanet continues to work on the game. I mostly screwed around trying to figure out the Thaumanova Reactor jumping puzzle, to no avail. However I did take note of a few things.”
  • Guild Wars Insider — A Beginner’s Summary: Currency in GW2. “With Guild Wars 2 looming in the distance, many have been wondering what sort of currency is found in the game and more importantly, what is it used for and how to get it. This guide goes into brief detail about the eight currency options in Guild Wars 2: coin, gems, tokens, influence, karma, skill points, glory and supply. In total, there are exactly eight forms of currency. For the most part, these all have different uses for the player, but a few can work as a substitute.”
  • Guild Wars Insider — The New Krewe: Barbarians At The Gate. “World versus World is an incredible amount of fun, and is absolutely the most robust, balanced and well-executed world PvP system I’ve experienced in a MMO. It can be a little daunting the first time you step into the Eternal Battlegrounds, with all of those keeps, towers and supply camps just waiting to be pillaged, it’s hard to know where to start. The goal of this article is to help you get your bearings with some basic defensive tips. Consider these the rules of engagement.”
  • GWOnline.net — Guild Wars 2 a.k.a. MMORPG 2. “As we look back, Guild Wars 2 isn’t just a sequel to Guild Wars 1, itself a successful franchise. It is a sequel to the whole MMORPG genre. You heard me right. Guild Wars 2 is the sequel to every single MMORPG out here. All of them combined.” [Raphia: From later in the article: "I did fight a number of dungeon bosses in WoW, but as a healer, all I saw was red bars going up or down. Sadly, I can’t even tell you what they looked like, or what they fought like. Contrast that with Guild Wars 2, I know exactly how the various level 2 bosses look like, and some of their attacks." Exactly my experience with my GW monk. Exactly.]
  • Guild Wars Insider — GW2 Guide to Crafting: Leatherworking 1-75. “Leatherworking, as the name implies, is the crafting discipline able to create leather armor. This can be especially useful if you are an Engineer or a Thief, as you’ll be able to make use of all the items that you craft. There are also bags and other miscellaneous items, such as runes, that can be crafted to help augment your gear or to sell.”
  • GameSpy — Guild Wars 2: Our Questions and Concerns. “It’s a little hard to believe that the long wait’s almost over. After five years of enduring messianic proclamations from a wildly devoted fanbase about how Guild Wars 2 is going to change the entire MMORPG scene, those of us who preordered ArenaNet’s wunderkind get to see if it lives up to the hype this Saturday. I won’t deny I’m excited. I haven’t looked forward to playing an MMORPG with this level of excitement in years, and I’ve just finished updating my client so I can jump in as soon as it goes live. But I’ve been burned before — no man knows the future, and as with all games of this size and complexity, there are literally a million things that could go wrong. In the spirit of objectivity and healthy skepticism, I present a few of my few lingering concerns”
  • Heeding the Call — Fume! “After my visit to Lion’s Arch and encountering the local speciality, I thought my cooking skills would surely surpass that. Seems I still need some practice. Look at what happened…”
  • GW2GM — Use Keybinding to Be More Efficient in Combat. “If you don’t already know, a keybind, simply stated, is a keyboard shortcut which allows you to press a key instead of clicking it with your mouse. Keybindings are a great way to make your gameplay more efficient by creating comfortable reach access for your fingers. The ability to easily reach and press your profession’s abilities can greatly alter your gaming experience.”
  • Raging Monkeys — Individualism vs. Collectivism. Or: Glorified MMO misconceptions. “If there is one quality in particular that I believe to be imperative for social relationships and bonds, that is the aspect of free will. Free will may be all that separates partnership from a prison, friendship from tyranny and loving care from obligation. In this life, I choose who I want to be with and for how long, and I don’t want any of my more meaningful relationships to ever be about necessity.”
  • Mistress of Illusions — Our PvP is So Hardcore, We Have Sharks. “Despite being a mere stress test, ArenaNet unveiled new content today in the form of a nautical themed PvP map, Raid on the Capricorn. And yes, there are killer sharks – because PvP just isn’t hardcore enough unless you’re fending off sharks and enemy players. ArenaNet put so much effort into differentiating their underwater combat from regular combat, I’m glad to see its inclusion in PvP. It’s definitely a different experience. While underwater combat is possible in WvW, I’ve found it a rare occurrence. Raid on the Capricorn may even become my favorite PvP map.”
  • Divinity’s Reach — Stress Test Impressions. “Wow. This stress test brought some nice, unannounced changes. Dance and laugh emotes were revealed, the fourth PvP map was opened for testing, pre-purchase items were handed out, and even the stress test was extended an extra two hours.”
  • Kill Ten Rats — Guild Wars 2 Kung Fu. “I am nearing overload like other blogger compatriots. Guild Wars 2 is haunting my dreams and is almost on every brain cycle throughout the day. Yet, I have no plan for the game. I am still undecided on my first character, although a small cut has been made. I have names though. Oh yes, my preciousss.”
  • MMORPG.com — Underwater PvP and the Downed State. “A new structured PvP map, Raid on the Capricorn, made its debut in Guild Wars 2 yesterday during the (most likely) final stress test before head start begins on Saturday. Raid on the Capricorn is Guild Wars 2’s fourth sPvP map and is significant in that it is the hotly anticipated “underwater map”. Does the map meet expectations? What’s underwater combat like in PvP? We’ll discuss it all in this week’s column.”
  • Guild Wars 2 Junkies — GW2 Launch Soon – Prep your client!. “The Stress Test and BWE client can be used as the live client, and the game has been updated almost every day. The first tip is to make sure to update your client every night, or every hour if you have ADHD like the staff here. You definitely don’t want to be caught downloading that 500 MB update at midnight EST while hundreds of thousands of people are pounding the servers. If you’re not doing a clean install, make sure you repair your client! Arenanet is pretty good at keeping their file structure prestine, but it’s always a good idea to clean it up on your own via the repair option. You never know if your very own computer might be plotting against you.”
  • Demajen — The Tiniest Details. “I spent a couple of minutes yesterday watching THIS VIDEO about sound effects in GW2 and how some guy had noticed that when guns in the game fire, ANet have actually got lots of randomised soundbites for shell-casings hitting the floor, including different sounds for different surfaces: wood, stone, metal, et cetera. This is brilliant sound design.”
  • GWOnline.net — 1 Day Left To Wait!!! “I am so looking forward to this. I finished the install, and then I downloaded the patches. Wait… done? So fast? Wow, I was expecting hours of downloading patches like its main competitor, but this game downloads only what it needs so you can get into the game faster. Sweet!”
  • Guild Wars Insider — Beginner’s Guide: Game Mechanics. “There’s a lot of ground to cover – there are around two dozen weapons to use, different roles to play in combat, different ways to grow your character, travel and MUCH more. This will be one of the largest guides we release, but every word is worth understanding.”
  • Guild Wars 2 Hub — Complete Vista Guide to Queensdale. “Guild Wars 2 has various rewards for exploring the world of Tyria. One such reward is interacting with vistas that can be found in every zone. These cinematic mini-movies show a breathtaking look at the environs associated with that vista point. GuildWars2Hub.com offers this complete guide to the vistas found in Queensdale.”
  • Flame Throwing — Feeling Vulnerable. “It’s better than you think. And worse than you think. I say this because (in most builds) Vulnerability has taken a back seat to Might. They basically do the same thing right, except Might does it better? ;) The main difference however, is that Vulnerability is like a low powered AoE Might that everyone in your group continually spams on themselves.”
  • Guild Wars 2 Hub — Control in Guild Wars 2. “There is no auto-attack and AFK in ​Guild Wars 2. ​Combat is interactive, fluid, and fun, something lacking from many of your average MMOs. One of the core concepts in GW2‘s combat system is “control.” Brought over from the original Guild Wars​ and revamped, control is the act of “tanking” in GW2, in a way. It’s controlling enemy movement and damage and is built into every profession, once again breaking away from the “holy trinity” of tank, healer, and DPS.”
  • Guild Wars 2 Hub — Metrica Province Skill Challenge Guide. “While a player automatically receives skill points for leveling, you can also gain additional points by undertaking various skill challenges. These skill challenges are present in every zone and GuildWars2Hub.com offers this complete guide to the skill challenges in the Asura starting zone, Metrica Province.”
  • Massively — Guild Wars 2: Account linking and you. “You are surely aware that Guild Wars 2 is nearing its headstart and launch dates. You might also know that players of both Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2 have a bit of incentive to link their accounts. The Massively team has been getting a fair few questions about the ins and outs of account linking, so this here is a bit of a knowledge dump that’ll hopefully sort out some problems.”
  • Kill Ten Rats — Because Sleep Is for Wimps in Lousy Time Zones. “Can we get the name of the person who thought that was a good idea?”
  • Guild Wars 2 Hub — Intro Guide to Daily and Monthly Achievements. “Guild Wars 2 adds some more spice to its hearty stew with the achievement system. Rewarding players for actually playing the game above the normal MMO XP grind adds some motivation and gratification for players to do that little bit more to fulfill a particular achievement. While Guild Wars 2 has a lot of different achievements overall, in this guide we’re going to take an introductory look at the daily and monthly achievements found in the game.”
  • GW2 WvW — Playing the Field. “This is it, folks: launch week! Tomorrow night (or tonight, or last night, depending on when you’re reading this), the servers go live for head start access! That means this is the last time you’ll read The Structure pre-launch! Once launch starts, we’ll still be doing this every week. I’ll keep picking topics I hope people will want to read, but I’ll also be doing my best to stay on top of the meta and talk about different trends going on in SPvP.”
  • Guild Wars 2 Hub — Finding Fault. “With barely a day remaining until Guild Wars 2 finally launches, I’m actually struggling to concentrate. Something I have begun to wonder though, after Guild Wars 2 vs. Metacritic, was what people feel Guild Wars 2 will fall down on when it does actually come to being reviewed.”
  • Guild Wars 2 Junkies — GUIDE: Weapon and Armor Stats Explained. “This FAQ explains what you need to know about gear and how its attributes are distributed. I’ll predominantly aim this at level 80 equipment as we can talk about all equipment rarities.”
  • Kill Ten Rats — Unicorn Costumes 2: Eye of the Horn. “Since I have woefully wasted a ton of the Medals of Honor item in Guild Wars on the wrong weapons, I have been logging in dutifully each day to gather that one bounty quest that will get me back to buying the last two Oppressor weapons I need to hit 40 points in the Hall of Monuments. I can see small patterns of change in Guild Wars already beginning to form as the sequel launches in mere days. The market is fluctuating madly as people seem unsure how to price things anymore. How much would you sell your antique china for if a world-destroying asteroid is headed our way?”
  • GWOnline.net — Guild Wars 2 Gets Iran Ban. “If you are in Iran and want to play Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2 it looks like you are out of luck. The Iranian government has clamped down on numerous games blocking players from connecting to the services, including Guild Wars.”
  • Guild Wars Insider — The New Krewe: The Lore in 500 Words. “The year is 1325 AE, 250 years after the events of the first Guild War.”
  • Added Guild Wars Insider — GW2 Guide to Crafting: Weaponsmithing 1-75. “Weaponsmithing is a crafting discipline that a good many players will pick up because the items that can be made are usable by almost everyone. As the name implies, you will be able to make items like greatswords, swords, daggers, shields and a few other things as well. Guardian, Warriors, Thieves and Rangers will especially be drawn to this discipline because of the vast amount of upgrades to be had.”
  • Added Guild Wars Insider — Companions’ Crossing: Playing The Ranger 101. “For many of us, it has been a long journey since Guild Wars 2 was first announced, yet there are many others who will be taking their first steps into the world of Tyria next week. We stand together on the edge of destiny to begin our first adventures, but there are choices to be made before we set out on our initial journey.”
  • Added Guild Wars Insider — Monumental Rewards: GW2′s Hall of Monuments. “For months, players have been asking how their achievements in the first Guild Wars move over to Guild Wars 2, and where they go for those rewards.”
  • Added Guild Wars 2 Hub — Choosing the Best Profession for your Playstyle. “There are a total of eight professions in Guild Wars 2 and picking the right one can be a daunting task for new players. There are tons of players out there that are fretting over picking the wrong profession and being stuck either underpowered or with a profession that they don’t care about. This stems from the fact that conventional MMOGs will force you to pick a class and play it for extended periods before you even start unlocking the core gameplay mechanics. Thankfully, GW2 works a bit differently.”
  • Added Under the Pale Tree — We’re ready. “It’s here. Tomorrow night, headstart is here. It feels so weird, to think that in just over 24 hours, many of us will be logging into the game and creating characters that will not be wiped after a few days. That the servers aren’t going to go offline Sunday night.”
  • Added Guild Wars Insider — Beginner’s Guide: Game Mechanics. “Welcome to the fourth part of our five-part Beginner’s Guide! Today, we are going to cover the many game mechanics of Guild Wars 2.“
  • Added Raging Monkeys — Managing expectations. And see you there! “While speakers don’t realize it anymore in everyday language, the German word for “disappointed” has a rather intriguing, literal meaning: it’s to be “un-deceived”. If we feel disappointment, it is generally because we were let down on our expectations – our hopes, dreams, illusions maybe. In any case, there was a deception of some kind involved and quite often it’s a self-created one as much as the other way around.”
  • Added maloki.se — 10 things to think about for launch of Guild Wars 2. “The Guild Wars 2 headstart is just around the corner, the official countdown at Guild Wars 2 own website. The community is excited, do you realize how long we’ve waited?!”
  • Added Guild Wars 2 Junkies — A Guide to Queensdale, Levels 1 – 15. “Regardless of your choice of your personal story, as a human, your tutorial level will start you with a quest to protect the people of Shaemoor. Directly in front of you as you start out is Corporal Beirne, he has a green quest icon, and is calling out for your assistance. He will request that you head to the Inn, which is a simple enough beginner task. Just continue south and run to the large green star on your mini map.”
  • Added Dragon Season — (My) First steps in GW2. “Less than 24 hours left for me to pity myself. Normally, I would feel this way for those unfortunate ones who have never set their foot on Tyria’s enchanting world — either because they have never played the original Guild Wars or because they were not lucky enough to participate in one of GW2‘s beta events. However, I’ve ended up regarding them as lucky, for they know not what they are missing and they shall experience all its magic at once and for good as soon as the game releases. What about me though? Me, who knows what he’s missing and feels this absence so intensely? Who closes his eyes and his mind travels there instantly? My mind, which has already registered itself a permanent resident of Tyria and has packed up its luggage months ago… It is so hard for me to wait for all those XX:YY:ZZ ‘s to become zero. And on the other hand, it is so much easy for me to write another article about it!”
  • Added Gigyas — “Giygas watches the Guild Wars 2 market prices like a hawk. He carefully goes through all of the crafting recipes and calculates how much coin you stand to earn, or lose by crafting it!” [Raphia: Not running right now: until the servers go live, there's no market to analyze, so I haven't seen this in operation yet.]
  • Added GW2 GAG — Hello, world! “Welcome fellow GW2 fans. Got any fancy, wacky ideas? Maybe you need a break from all the seriousness and you luv GW2 at the same time? GW2 GAG is gonna bring you the fun! In the sweat of our brows we are working on our new website – GW2 GAG! We would like to welcome you with some awesome features. Facebook cover picture generator is going online today!”
  • Added Guild Wars 2 Hub — Eight New Player Tips. “We were going to do a Top 10 list, but decided that eight is a better number. First of all, top tens are a bit cliché as a general rule in this day and age. And as anyone who managed to survive the dreaded late 70s or early 80s will tell you, eight is enough!”
  • Added Guild Wars Insider — GW2 Beginner’s Guide: Economics and Group Events. “Today marks the last day of our five-day guide, and the final day before headstart access begins for Guild Wars 2! As you enter the world, you’ll be eager to try a number of things, and a great deal of that will involve spending money and playing the game with other players.”
  • Added Divinity’s Reach — Launch Checklist. “So, depending on your time zone you have just a little over a day before Guild Wars 2 launches. While the planned start is 3:00 AM Saturday morning EST, ArenaNet has made clear that the servers may be up at most three hours early. So for many of us, that means waiting around the login screen for three hours. And the moment that server lights up, all bets are off, and the race is on. Your heart is pounding, blood is flowing, and you might even be a little light-headed from the excitement.”
  • Added Malefic Incantations — The Power Of Friendship. “I helped my fair share of people in terms of quests, missions, and money over the years (though never on the scale of Obby armor) but last weekend it was my turn to get some monetary help. I’m humbled by Rud and Verene’s spirit of giving. They could have easily kept their loot to pursue their remaining interests in Guild Wars, but they were happy to just give the last of it away. It gives me some inspiration and goals for GW2–I hope to amass huge wealth in GW2 and be just as generous with it!”
  • Added Guild Wars Insider — GW2 Guide to Crafting: Armorsmith 1-75. “There are two professions that wear heavy armor: the Warrior and the Guardian. If you are playing one of those professions and you want to create items that you can use, then you’ll want to consider taking up the Armorsmith discipline. This discipline focuses on creating heavy armor and upgrades for armor that has open upgrades slots available.”
  • Added Divinity’s Reach — How to (Really) Choose a Race. “I’m at it again, and this article really came about for two major reasons. The first being that we are one day from launch, and I am still undecided on my race. Seriously, ArenaNet….if you would just make the Kodan a playable race, we wouldn’t have this problem. The second being that I enjoyed the profession column so much that I had to do it again for each of the races.”
  • Added manylaughs — 4 reasons game reviews suck. “Guild Wars 2 is almost upon us and that means Guild Wars 2 reviews are almost upon us. In fact, in a way they’ve been coming out for years, pulling in accolades from gaming shows since 2010! You can almost see the throngs of gaming sisters and brethren dressed in their finest ceremonial robes and silly hats (Ever notice how many formal ceremonies involve silly hats?), ready to crown their next MMO king or queen.”
  • Added Guild Wars Insider — The New Krewe: Dungeon Delving in Guild Wars 2. “If you’re coming from another fantasy MMO, then the concept of dungeons won’t be anything new to you. They’re still the instanced, group-based PvE zones you know and love. There are differences in how dungeons in Guild Wars 2 are designed, however, and understanding those differences will greatly increase your enjoyment.”
  • Added The Centaur’s Satchel — The future of Centaur’s Satchel. “So some might be curious where I am planning to take this blog after launch. It started as a Guild Wars 1 blog and back when it started, it was mostly guides and events.”

Videos and podcasts

Fanfic

  • Chronicles of Tyria — Chapter 5: Part 4 Rain in Ashford. “A slight drizzle fell as I stared out from underneath my shelter. Resting on the black bar overlooking a steep drop, my eyes were fixed on the ruins on the other side of the canyon. Sounds of iron and steel hitting each other played behind me as the grunts of the Charr race cut between them. It amazed me that I could stand here, in the middle of what was now Charr territory, safely. Most of the race never even payed me any attention at all. Ragnvaldr had been right. I was nothing more than a fly on the wall, and playing to that truth, some Charr were annoyed that I was even there. I bet they’d swat me if they had the opportunity. It was clear that the world around me had changed. Even if I couldn’t remember the past, it was as if I didn’t know the present either. It felt as if I had belonged to neither.”
  • Chronicles of Tyria — An Introduction to Role-Playing, Part 1. “If you have found your way to this blog, you probably already have some interest in writing, Guild Wars or role-playing… or you are lost on the internet and I offer a welcome to you too. Still, being interested and taking part are two different things, so I have put together this ‘need to know’ guide in the hope of encouraging more of you to get involved in role-playing!”
  • Foundation — Ayroh : Chapter 9 ~ Monsters. “No one spoke. There was nothing to say. Single file, we soared through the early morning of the mountains, hunters focused upon our prey. Javikarth was second in line, following tightly on the heels of the tracker that led us along the winding road. Juno was behind me, followed in turn by 10 norn warriors, each armed and armored to fight ’til death.”
  • Foundation — The Forging – Chapter 3. “Sorin and master Iorek’s workload increased steadily over the next few days. With the Great Hunt fast approaching, it became more important than ever to make sure all the weapons, armor, and tokens were crafted on time. With so many orders coming in, master Iorek eventually relented and allowed Sorin to work on armor and showpieces for the Great Hunt. The elder blacksmith steadfastly refused to let his apprentice work on weapons, however, due to his inexperience with that kind of smithing.”
  • Foundation — Ayroh: Chapter 10 ~ Heart of Darkness. “Dozens of them appeared, entirely without warning. From mist and shadow, rock and tree, they emerged. There were shouts, and threats in rough voices erupting from every side and direction. The charr had us surrounded, there was no chance to fight. Javikarth and the rest of our warriors followed the orders of the shouting charr and lowered their weapons to the ground. For a brief moment, I considered casting my decoy and escaping into the woods, but Javikarth’s hand on my shoulder ended any plans of escape I might’ve had.”
  • Foundation — Ayroh: Chapter 11 ~ Aftermath. “‘Glory to the Iron Legion!’ The bailiff pounds his chestplate with his fist. The crowd roars the salute back. Glorious. We are charr. There is nothing so magnificent under the sky of this world. And now, this trial will become another thing to be consumed in the furnace of our glory.”
  • Foundation — Ayroh: Chapter 12 ~ Hemlock. “Yelling again. Another guard was dragged up the metal stairs, his fur emerging from the darkened undercroft chilled with black ice and smoking. It was the third one Ayroh had attacked within the past hour. I never wanted this. I was so wrong, I should have stopped them.”
  • Chronicles of Tyria — An Introduction to Role-Playing, Part 2. “The release of Guild Wars 2 is less than a week away, and even sooner for those with the three-day head start. And yet, for all your love of writing and creativity and lore and such, you are still not certain how to go about an in-game role-play.”
  • Foundation — Ayroh : Chapter 13 ~ Ishmael. “(I will kill you all.) Is this what home is supposed to be like? The crews are clearing out, but this place still feels filled. Heavy, almost. Srin is near the front archway, making sure that all of the details have been handled. I suppose this space is mine, then.”
  • Foundation — Ayroh : Chapter 14 ~ Resistance. “I wrapped my arm around Juno’s shoulders as we were marched out of the prison and into the streets of the Black Citadel. Our armor returned, our weapons cleaned and polished, a bag of silver in my pocket; all at the request of some legionnaire named “Shadowsoul.” And still no word of what became of Ayroh.”
  • Foundation — Dusk to Dawn: Act 1, Chapter 2. “‘Appreciate you coming along. It helps to have another set of eyes with us on the trip,’ Phillup said as they made their way through Godslost swamp.”
  • Foundation — The Splintered Journey : Chapter 3. “The roar of the charr charge was deafening, rattling the leaves of the trees. Fear soon followed the war cry, and the warband followed the fear. As soon as they hit the ground, the ferocious warriors immediately began to assume a spearhead formation. The humans looked upon the aggressors with uncertainty.”
  • Foundation — Ayroh : Chapter 15 ~ Lich. “After the first hour from the gates of the Black Citadel, I knew precisely why the charr fought so hard for this land. It was breathtaking.”
  • Foundation — Ayroh : Chapter 16 ~ Barren. “When the serpent was slain, the surviving branded broke ranks and fled. Across the Dragonbrand, they retreated; our cannons and guns giving chase the entire way. Less than a minute after the beast fell dead, the battle was ended.”
  • Foundation — Ayroh : Chapter 17 – The King and His Throne. “In all of my years, I never expected that it would end like this. I gave a shout to Akant, ‘Drop a charge on that boulder!’”
  • Foundation — Ache – Chapter III: The Dusk. “Caledon Forest was an incredibly dangerous place. Despite its proximity to the Grove, the Sylvari’s tendencies to leave nature be allowed for a rampant amalgam of creatures and plantlife—none of it overly friendly. Great cats roamed the forest, as well as skale, huge bats, and whatever could be found lurking deep within the many ruins scattered throughout the trees. I took care not to upset any creatures that may have claimed our road as their territory.”
  • Chronicles of Tyria — Travel and Party Plans. “I was right, and there was no big drama today. I slept in late to recover from last night’s shenanigans, had a big breakfast and then went out to meet people. Caelan and I had a lot to do today if we were still intent on leaving soon!”
  • Chronicles of Tyria — Chapter 3: Shame. “‘I can’t believe we had to bargain for her life!’ Hans growled angrily. ‘Ascalonian mutts.’ He hissed under his breath. The human turned to me, ‘come, let’s go now.’ He reached down to help me, but I pushed his hand away.”
  • Foundation — Ache – Chapter IV: The Builder. “The lock was taunting me. I had been here for over an hour, using every tool in my belt to move beyond this massive iron door. It was so thick the Searing hadn’t even shaken it, and my gauntlet had no hope of cutting it; the lock so complicated that, in the day it was made, it would’ve taken a better thief than me a hundred years to pick it. I expected nothing less than a king’s treasure in the basement beyond, and I wouldn’t give up.”
  • Added Foundation — Ache – Chapter V: The Trial. “This was going to be easy. It had to be easy. My armor rustled with each inhalation I took, and I gripped my maces tightly in each hand—no shield for me this time around. Defense would play no part in my strategy. We would strike as hard and as fast as we could, giving the Court no time to take hostages or organize a proper defense. The village, so small it was unnamed, had no central organization. That meant that they couldn’t consolidate their forces easily, but getting line of sight on enemies and preventing them from grabbing the villagers would be difficult. And still, I told myself, our plan was solid. This would be over in one fell swoop.”

Community Events

There were no community events submitted this week (no real surprise).

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/Guild Wars 2 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).

9 Responses

  1. This week in Guild Wars 2 « Quotulatiousness
    This week in Guild Wars 2 « Quotulatiousness August 24, 2012 at 00:03 |

    [...] day earlier than usual, my community round-up at GuildMag has been posted. With everyone waiting for the headstart period to being in just over 24 hours, [...]

  2. Paeroka
    Paeroka August 24, 2012 at 00:10 |

    Awww. We only made it in with three of our four posts. ;)

    (But pssst… the giveaways are still open for 19-33 hours). ^^

  3. Raphia Naon
    Raphia Naon August 24, 2012 at 04:43 |

    Sorry, Paeroka, I mis-read the time for your contest and I thought it would be over on Thursday for some reason.

  4. Paeroka
    Paeroka August 24, 2012 at 08:36 |

    That’s okay, I was actually joking because we made so many posts this week. :) Awesome work as usual!

  5. San Darkwood
    San Darkwood August 24, 2012 at 18:23 |

    wow, what a behemoth of a post. Plenty of content to keep me busy for the next  14 and half hours :D

    1. Raphia Naon
      Raphia Naon August 24, 2012 at 20:14 |

       That’s exactly what I hope most of the readers are thinking. ;-)

  6. Naveen
    Naveen August 24, 2012 at 21:35 |

    Wow, great work guys! That must’ve taken a lot of time to update!

  7. Der Countdown läuft! › GW2 Champion
    Der Countdown läuft! › GW2 Champion August 25, 2012 at 05:22 |

    [...] GuildMag Sammelartikel zu aktuellen Themen [...]

  8. Raphia’s headstart journal day one | GuildMag - Guild Wars 2 Fansite: Magazine, Podcast, Editorials and more
    Raphia’s headstart journal day one | GuildMag - Guild Wars 2 Fansite: Magazine, Podcast, Editorials and more August 26, 2012 at 16:12 |

    [...] This week in Guild Wars 2  Aug 24, 2012 ~ Raphia Naon [...]

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