This week in Guild Wars 2

Written by  //  February 15, 2013  //  Community  //  4 Comments

I only rarely run dungeons, so the requirement to do five of them to get the February monthly achievement is forcing me to pay a bit more attention to calls on guild chat for help with dungeons. On Wednesday, Zen Nightwing and I accompanied a guild group to do Caudecus’s Manor in Queensdale. I’d run story mode on both my ranger and my mesmer, so this time I took my level 67 guardian. It was a decision I’d quickly regret…

I knew ArenaNet had mentioned addressing dungeons in the early 2013 updates, and they’d definitely gotten rid of death zerging, but I didn’t think the other changes would be too disruptive. I was seriously wrong. That dungeon was the most painful gaming experience I’ve had in a long, long time. Did they buff every enemy? And lower the timing between when AOE red circles appear and when the actual AOE damage starts? I kept getting one-shotted, and I even found some of the non-boss enemies could two-shot me.

Another one of our officers had been in CM earlier in the evening with a pick-up group, and he ended up spending more than 20 silver on armour repairs … and they couldn’t complete the dungeon. When he was telling us about it in chat just before he logged off (in disgust, I suspect), we assumed it was just that the group he was with must not have had much experience of working with other players. After spending a couple of hours at it ourselves, we realized it wasn’t him or his group: it was the dungeon.

I can’t sneer at his 20 silver “investment” in repairing armour … because I spent nearly 30 silver on my own run. We did finally “win”, but I doubt that any of us plan on returning in the near future — if ever.

On Thursday night, we tried Twilight Arbour with a similar group (although this time I was on my level 80 ranger), and had a much easier time of it. Another guild group ran Citadel of Flame and reported that it felt easier to do this time around. That’s not a lot of cross-checking, but my suspicion is that CM needs a fair bit of developer TLC to bring it in line with what a starter dungeon for level 40+ characters should be.

Official Guild Wars 2 news

  • GuildWars2.com — Love Is in the Air at the Gem Store! “The Black Lion Trading Company is getting into the spirit of Valentine’s Day with an exclusive new item and limited time discounts. This week only you can pick up the Bouquet of Roses — which will grant you 5 unique skills — Red Dye Packs full of the most passionate colors, and a discount on Self Style Hair Kits so you can look your best. Check out these Valentine’s items in the Gem Store before February 18, when these romantic deals will disappear.”
  • Twitter — @GuildWars2: “We’re rounding up some of the funniest #GW2 screenshot photobombs: ow.ly/hELfR Got one we should add? Let us know! ~RB2″
  • GuildWars2.com — Introducing the New Spirit Watch PvP Map. “In the upcoming patch, you will be able to play our latest PvP map—Spirit Watch! This norn-themed map, which is surrounded by sheer cliffs, features shrines to the Spirits of the Wild and a new secondary objective. In this map, we combine our established conquest gameplay with intense capture-the-flag gameplay — except instead of a flag, players will battle over the glowing Orb of Ascension! Opportunities for vertical play abound in Spirit Watch, with constant battles raging across bridges, valleys, and cliff sides. The map also provides plenty of brawling opportunities as players race to the center for control of the Orb.”
  • ArenaNet Blog — Guild Wars 2 Game Director to Speak at SINFO Conference in Lisbon. “On February 25th Game Director Colin Johanson will be speaking at the 20th SINFO conference held in the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) in Lisbon, Portugal. SINFO is an annual conference organized by Information Systems and Computer Engineering students at IST that is dedicated to fostering discussions and the sharing of knowledge about information and computing technologies.”
  • MMORPG.com — Guild Wars 2 Interviews: February’s Flame and Frost Update Detailed. “With the Guild Wars 2 live event ready to start in a couple weeks, we managed to sit down with Game Director Colin Johanson to talk about Flame & Frost and what it will bring to the game. Check out our exclusive interview before heading to the comments to continue the discussion.”
  • Twitter — @GuildWars2. “Happy Valentine’s Day! Our gift to you is this fan video of a dancing quaggan: ow.ly/hIIbQ ~RB2″

Recent GuildMag posts

  • Dynamically Spoken — Episode 8: Flame, Frost & Futures. “We’re back, and now on a weekly basis! With new hosts Ally and Jason, we discuss everything Flame & Frost, as well as expansion rumours. Check below for the show notes.” [Raphia: The rebooted Dynamically Spoken podcast was our most popular post in months. We're delighted that so many of you took the time to listen!]
  • You Shall Not Pass – Off-Handed Comments. “As I said in my previous article, the combination of a one-handed weapon with an off-handed weapon allows for some incredible versatility in combat, and choosing the correct tools of the trade can offer a significant advantage to your and your party’s combat potential. While you generally won’t get as much damage from these weapons, the utility they offer is essential in any fight.”

Fan articles and blog posts

  • Guild Wars 2 Hub — The Mechanic’s Workshop: Daily Achievements and Why they Matter. “We’ve had about two weeks of the new daily achievement system and I think it’s time to stop and reflect on how they are going, and if ArenaNet achieved (pun) what they could have with the changes. To do that I’ll dive into my own experience with the current system, as well as look ahead to the changes they’ve already confirmed for February patch.”
  • The Egg Baron — February Teaser: The Gathering Storm. “A teaser has been posted up on the Guild Wars 2 main site for the February release of Flame and Frost which is being called, “The Gathering Storm.” In this teaser, we learn some new things about what to expect in the February release. The devs have also taken to the forums with additional details. Today I will go over these changes and add my thoughts.”
  • The Orr Orator — FAIR SKINNED HUMAN MALE UNABLE TO LEAP
  • The Orr Orator — IF ONLY THERE WAS SOME SORT OF HALL
  • Inventory Full — Gathering Storm, Light Drizzle To Follow. “February tends towards the dismal; the cold, wet stub of winter, with neither January’s crisp bite nor March’s fresh clarity. It’s just the time when you feel the need for something filling, substantial. Why, look! What’s this? It’s the February update for Guild Wars 2. Think that’ll do the job? Set the fires roaring? Drive out the damp? Well, hardly.”
  • Hunter’s Insight — The Hungry Tyrian. “The chef crafting profession is used most often to gain ten levels of experience without having to do much work or spend much gold. Often a few specific foods are made and then the profession is cast aside to be forgotten until the next alt requires a few easily gained levels.”
  • Inventory Full — Kill Variety in Plains of Ashford: A Beginner’s Guide, With Photographs. “In a comment on one of Ravious’s posts over at Kill Ten Rats a while back I claimed it was possible to get all thirteen kills for GW2‘s Kill Variety Daily in the very first starting area of Plains of Ashford. I also said I’d take screenshots to prove it. It is, and I have.”
  • The Egg Baron — This Week in Guild Wars 2. “Every Friday, Raphia at GuildMag goes through all the community articles for the week and rounds them up into one giant article. Every week I like to go through this list and pick out my favourites to share with you guys. The articles I pick out tend to compliment the content that I have here on my blog. I also try to sneak in some Red Posts and news from Arena Net that I may have missed earlier in the week.”
  • Guild Wars 2 Trading Post — I’m Too Rich for the Trading Post… What Next? “This was a very astute comment from yesterday’s post on spending 20,000 silver”
  • Inventory Full — Server Pride. “When I began playing MMOs I didn’t even know what a server was. I installed Everquest, stared at the list of incomprehensible names and decided to pick one I had an outside chance of remembering. Prexus.”
  • Reddit — The status of achievement points. “Yesterday I crafted a legendary (Bolt, to be specific) and noticed my achievement points go up. A very, very small amount: 5 points. Let’s get some perspective in here. A while back I decided I hadn’t seen enough jumping puzzles, so I looked up a list of entrances and did almost all of them. They usually take 5-15 minutes once you find it, with a few exceptions. They give 10 points each.”
  • The Lazy Geek — A Guild Wars 2 Dungeoneer’s Tale: The Embrace Strikes Back. “Not all dungeon runs I go on end with a sour taste in my south and me screaming for people’s head. If you follow me on twitter and have payed any attention to it in the last few weeks, you’ll know that a number of my rantings and whining deals fully or partially with dungeons. However, I have a tale of quite the opposite experience than what I’m used to, and it all takes place in the same dungeon as my previous tale.”
  • Of Course I’ll Play It — Guild Wars 2 – Gettin’ Your Daily On. “So in the most recent round of patches at the end of January, ArenaNet introduced some changes to the Daily Achievement. And, as often is the case when change is introduced, if you were to spend any time on the Guild Wars 2 forums, well the new changes have done nothing less than destroy the game! For whatever reason, I haven’t found the new dailies all that onerous, and I actually like the fact that I want to spend some time thinking about how to satisfy them.”
  • MMORPG.com — The Never Ending Story. “The lifeblood of any MMO is the ability of the developers to give players game play experiences that keep them coming back, chief among them, a living, breathing storyline. We take a look at how ArenaNet can and should do this in Guild Wars 2.”
  • Divinity’s Reach — The Growing Pains of WvW. “WvW is why I play Guild Wars 2. My time in WoW was very much post-Tarren Mills/Southshore era, and most of my open world combat consisted of raiding Stormwind with a handful of Horde. Pre-launch, WvW appeared to be one of the greatest aspects of Guild Wars 2. And to me, it has been. That being said, there are some very real problems with the current implementation of WvW. The WvW community has seen four patches come and go without any real changes, (no, fixing culling does not count…) and I’m hoping to see some great progress made in March.”
  • Healing the masses — Coordination and Class Complexities. “I have often down played the cooperative aspect of Guild Wars 2 here and in game as well. Most times events, dungeon runs, and pvp it is an every man/or woman for themselves kind of environment. The nature of character development kind of urges you onto that path as due to many different factors group play isn’t as necessary and you more have to focus on your own skills and rotation. But I am slowly but surely getting a glimpse of some sort of hidden meta.”
  • Guild Wars 2 Riches — Converting Karma To Gold. “Hello and welcome to the (currently) bi-weekly Guild Wars 2 Riches blog post! Sorry for the lack in regular content guys, I’m moving house and working on a ton of other things at the minute. I want to make posts more regular again but first I have to find the time to play Guild Wars 2 so that I find the inspiration to write about it.”
  • Guild Wars 2 Trading Post — Post and Forget Profits. “Is this really all that hard to do? 100 orders times 23 copper equals 23 silver. What do you get back when they all sell? Double your investment after fees. So I just plopped down 1 gold 23 silver and will end up with approximately 2 gold 46 silver from these 5 auctions alone.”
  • Guild Wars 2 Hub — Fastest Way to Earn Karma. “In this guide we cover the fastest ways in which you can maximise your Karma gain. Considering Legendary weapons require over 500,000 Karma in total or Tier 3 weapons around 50,000 it can appear a daunting task. Thankfully it’s relatively easy to earn thousands in a very short space of time with a few simple steps.”
  • The Egg Baron — Living Story Update. “Two weeks ago the Flame and Frost Living Story was introduced into Guild Wars 2. Nearly everyday since, I have taken a quick run through Hoelbrak, up the Wayfarer Foothills, across Diessa Plateau, and finally, to the Black Citadel looking for new developments. I reviewed the initial content added to the game shortly after release but have yet to provide an update to what is happening. Today I would like to do just that by sharing with you some of the things I have seen change and the stories I have seen beginning to develop. If you would like to explore the story on your own and would like to avoid spoilers then I suggest skipping this article.”
  • Guild Wars 2 Hub — Legendary Weapon Wipeout. “I can only assume the individual who designed Mystic Clovers and thought it was a good idea, missed the memo on “fun”. Having used hundreds upon hundreds of Obsidian Shards, I only have 50 Mystic Clovers. With a 30% chance to obtain one, it’s a miserable experience and protracting a process just for the sake of it. This continued focus on the Mystic Forge and random results is not only cruel, but also undermines everything ArenaNet attempted to achieve when they designed Guild Wars 2.”
  • Kill Ten Rats — Forebode the February Update. “ArenaNet comes out to say a couple days ago that the February update will not be the WvW update we all hoped. It’s disappointing, but like the January update, they are making the core game right for the long, long run. It sucks; I kick the dirt. But, wait. ArenaNet releases the product page for the February update shortly thereafter. Flame and Frost: The Gathering Storm.”
  • Massively — Flameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars features I wish had made it to Guild Wars 2. “You may have noticed, but Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2 are different games. I thought we’d clear that up to begin with. In fact, they’re such different games that there are oodles of people who are fans of one but not the other (typically, most of these folks seem to be in favor of Guild Wars 2, but I know a fair few staunch supporters of the original). I happen to be a fan of both games, although I definitely find it a little disconcerting to switch between the two games. Most of that is because of things that the sequel does better, like casting on the move, a player auction house, and (in my opinion) the downed state. Some of it’s because of things that aren’t so much about quality as style, like the existence (or lack thereof) of Monks and heavy instancing. And then there are things that I really loved in the original that aren’t around anymore.”
  • Nerdy Bookahs — Seriously now, mesmer or warrior? “Before the release of Guild Wars 2, I had already asked myself whether I wanted the warrior or the mesmer profession for my main character. Oddly enough, I am not the only person wondering about this choice as I have regularly seen readers come to our blog because of the very same “dilemma”. The game has been out for several months now and I figured I would revisit this topic. Keep in mind that for me, the subjective measure of “fun” is the most crucial deciding factor and “min/maxing” or “doing the most damage” is a lot less important. So your mileage may vary, but perhaps I can still help you get a feeling for those two professions.”
  • Guild Wars 2 Junkies — Dungeon Update: Tweaks to Arah P4′s Simin. “Achieving the perfect balance on tough bosses in explorable mode dungeons and fractals is never an easy task. ArenaNet’s Robert Hrouda has been adjusting one of the most difficult bosses in explorable mode Arah – the fourth (Seer) path’s Dwaynas High Priestess Simin fight – and is still making adjustments to the fight. This boss was often skipped by groups before the recent changes.”
  • The Orr Orator — DEAR EIR…
  • GW2 Guru — Community Highlights: The Krytan Herald. “The Krytan Herald is a Guild Wars 2 RP Community Newspaper. We mainly serve the Guild Wars 2 Roleplayers community and they have been instrumental to the success of the paper. Our team of writers publish and create, stories, events and adverts for fans of the universe.”
  • Guild Wars 2 Trading Post — Strength in Numbers. “To understand what people want to buy on the trading post, you need to first really have a solid grasp on what kinds of rewards players look for in Guild Wars 2. I’ll tell you right now, it’s the same as most RPG’s: players want bigger numbers.”
  • Guild Wars 2 Junkies — GuildCenter Exclusive: Tier 1 Guild Shakeup. “As listeners of GuildCenter know, we called this one weeks ago and it has finally happened; Sea of Sorrows is imploding kiddies! After many discussions, Fist of the Empire (FoE) and Aggression (AGG) have left SoS for a new home on Blackgate. We are also hearing rumors swirling of MERC and ND following them to Blackgate thanks to a generous offer by the Blackgate server to fund the gem transfers for both guilds (or to be more accurate, the transfers asked the guilds on BG if they would be willing to help fund the transfer if they moved and they whole heartedly agreed); transfers to Blackgate are going for 35 gold per person.”
  • The Egg Baron — Valentine’s Day Sale. “If you have not noticed already there is a Valentine’s Day Sale in the Black Lion Trading Post. Good ole Evon Gnashblade has all the details on the Guild Wars 2 main site. The sale will last until February 18th so you have plenty of time to take advantage of these deals.”
  • The Orr Orator — CLASSIFIEDS
  • Kill Ten Rats — Static Gameplay. “The sense I get from GW2 is that we are seeing the history of its development. (Entirely made up story follows.)”
  • GWOnline.net — Endgame: An alt-a-holic’s perspective. “I’ve always liked playing different characters, and now that I have a few at max level and with somewhat decent gear, I feel I have some *cough*authority*cough* to talk about what to expect from your characters in endgame. The good news is… the game remains pretty similar to early- or mid-game, so whatever profession you like early on is likely going to be your favourite still later on.”
  • GWOnline.net — Dailies and Monthlies: A Starter’s Guide. “This is a short guide giving some pointers on ways to make the dailies and monthlies easier. Dailies and monthlies are a relatively easy way to boost your income and get some extras like laurels and karma. However, some have complained that they make you deviate from normal play… that is not necessarily so, and this guide is meant to give ways to incorporate dailies and monthlies into your routine.”
  • Of Course I’ll Play It — Guild Wars 2 Casual 80 – Runes & Trinkets. “So in my previous casual 80 article, I talked about evaluating your options for getting your first full set of exotic armor, and setting some goals based on that. Once you get your armor, well then what? Well that leaves upgrading your armor, filling out your trinkets, and getting your hands on some sweet weapons. I’ll save weapons for yet another post, and this morning we’ll talk a bit about filling out your trinkets and selecting armor upgrades.”
  • Guild Wars 2 Junkies — Achievements with Counters Borked by Recent Fix. “An odd thing happened yesterday morning after the recent GW2 fix and corresponding downtime. A fairly large chunk of players logged in with less achievements than before. Most of the achievements affected were ones with a counter. The Slayer achievements, for instance, are what were commonly affected.” [Raphia: I'd wondered why I was suddenly racking up a bunch of achievements for type of kills and weapon uses.]
  • Guild Wars 2 Live — Where I’d Take My Hubby For Dates On GW2 Valentines.
  • The Egg Baron — Secrets in the Swamp. “One of my favourite events in Guild Wars 2 is the fight with the Shadow Behemoth in Godslost Swamp in Queensdale. This is the event that really drew me into the game when I first encountered it months ago in the beta weekends. Fighting this giant monstrosity really made me want to explore the world and find other battles like this one. The January patch saw a fix to a bug that was preventing this event from occurring and I have been meaning to write an article about it ever since. Today I will satisfy that itch by introducing you to the Shadow Behemoth.”
  • The Orr Orator — THE 1325 AE STATE OF THE KINGDOM
  • Guild Wars 2 Hub — Guild Wars 2 Guide to Guesting and Transferring. “In this guide, we provide a step by step walkthrough of guesting and transferring, while also providing an overview of the costs and limitations involved.”
  • Guild Wars 2 Trading Post — Phil’s Big Breakthrough. “Phil is so very close to making a fundamental breakthrough that I hope many of you have made or will make soon. Here it is: Your experience with the trading post is an insight into how countless other people use it.”
  • Black Lions Profit — Lions Share: An eggcellent week. “It’s been a slow week for me in Guild Wars 2, with some items slowly becoming less efficient as more players enter the market and competitively undercut and overbid my prices. Luckily, I have a new premium account at gw2tp.net so I have access to some great advanced search tools & unlimited watch lists. (Gold Wars 2 still has a lot more features.) So finding new items to flip or invest has been extremely easy.”
  • Guild Wars 2 Guide — Guild Wars 2 Thief Guide – The Thief profession. “As players can learn through this Guild Wars 2 Thief guide, the Thief profession is a deadly one. Sudden death could occur for the enemy through stealth and surprise. The profession is actually the fastest of all classes in the game. With the use of different weapons, the class can be proficient from either close range, or from a distance. Even without heavy armor, players can survive in many situations.”
  • The Orr Orator — EVERY ROSE HAS ITS LAWSUIT
  • Guild Wars 2 Trading Post — Should You Undercut the Highest Buy Order or Lowest Sales Order? “So, when you finish your farming session and have goods to place on the trading post, you probably already know that your best bet is to undercut the current prices. But how do you determine which price to undercut? Is it the Highest Buy Order (instantly sold to a prepaid buyer) or Lowest Sales Order (needs to wait to be actively purchased by someone)?”
  • Twitter — @ChristianS_PbP. “I killed a Champion Risen Giant and all I got was this lousy Porous Bone. #GuildWars2″
  • Inventory Full — Dungeon Day Alert: GW2, DCUO. “Yesterday turned out to be Dungeon Day. I hadn’t planned it that way but it didn’t come quite out of the blue. A trip underground had been on the cards since February’s Monthly added “Dungeon Participation” to the chore list. “

Videos and podcasts

Fanfic

  • The Orr Orator — TAKE THESE BROKEN WINGS
  • Chronicles of Tyria — Shadow Step into Darkness. “Leaves rustled under father’s back as he woke from the concussion. “Lurx, what are you doing,” as my hands gripped his shirt and held him still. His words gargled from his throat. “Shhh. . . . They’ll hear us.” My fingers covered his lips. My father’s eyes narrowed, his face scrunched with confusion.”
  • Fanfiction.net — Machinations of Terror, Chapter 4. “Elovar and Rachit both seemed to withdraw into further thought, but Vayla kept her eyes on Juxeena who was now exchanging dark glares with Chadok. Finally, Juxeena threw her hands in the air as she loosed a barking scoff. She waved a hand at the tunnel leading deeper into the mountain.” [Raphia: Link goes to the start of the story. Scroll down to find the current chapter.]
  • Chronicles of Tyria — Valentine’s Day Collection 2012. “To spread this message of LOVE, a few of our authors here at Chronicles of Tyria have written some beautiful love stories for you to enjoy. As always the authors continue to impress me and we’ve resulted in quite a variety of love stories, about patience and grief, kindness and family, and love and appreciation.”
  • Chronicles of Tyria — Valentine’s Day One Shot: The Future the Pale Tree Shows. “The other races believe that plants can’t cry. These thousand tears I have shed would prove them wrong. Of course, it is wrong of me to call myself ‘plant’. Caelan always berated me for it, even when I meant it in jest. “We are so much more than that,” he would tell me, wagging one …”
  • Chronicles of Tyria — Valentine’s Day One Shot: Kaysee’s undercover bodyguard. “Somehow I always manage to get myself into trouble. If Alistair was here he’d tell me I went looking for it, and the fact that I’m bound and gagged in this dirty, dug-out tunnel is my fault. Perhaps worst of all, my dress is completely ruined! Blood stains will never be in fashion, not for …”
  • Chronicles of Tyria — Valentine’s Day One Shot: Bear, give me strength. ““Shh! It’s not funny, Noxx!” And to think that most, if not all, asura are too busy with their brawn to give me one single compliment when I achieve something. It is really frustrating, especially for the only daughter of the great Stone Stoneson, defeater of dredge and strongest in the minotaur weightlifting challenge! My …”

Community Events

  • Chronicles of Tyria — Guild Wars 2 signed collector’s edition contest! “Hello fellow Tyrians, readers and passing-bys! We at Chronicles of Tyria have wonderful news! We have a Guild Wars 2 collector’s edition, signed by some of ArenaNet’s employees, to give away! Interested? Of course you are! Here’s a video for you to watch and learn how you could win such a priceless prize!”
  • Guild Wars 2 Live — Win A Signed Collector’s Edition. “The awesome folks at ArenaNet have sent us a signed copy of Guild Wars 2 Collector’s Edition to give away! The CE box is covered in signatures on all 4 sides and then some. Now is your chance to enter in our little contest to win this for yourself or another friend. We figure that our followers are already Guild Wars 2 players and we want this contest to be as open to everyone as possible, so we’re holding a screenshot contest with a bit of a spin!”
  • Guild Wars 2 Junkies — The Beastgate Challenge – A Blackgate Community Event. “This is a server wide community event. Blackgate has an amazing community and it’s time to get to know each other a bit better and have some fun!”

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).

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  • Phil

    Thanks again for another great round up!

    • Raphia Naon

       Thanks! I look forward to seeing what you decide to emphasize in your “culling” post. ;-)

      • Phil

        Writing it now :)