Guild Wars 2

[FoxBat]

A bit surprised there is no thread on this with all the MMO junkies around here.. especially those no longer entertained by D3! I hope it's not the Guild Wars names that scares people off, because despite fans and Arenanet's claims, the original has practically zero in common with the sequel. I'm assuming the rest of you MMO fans have at least heard a little about the "next big thing" which is releasing on August 28, but I'll put this down for everyone else:

Design Manifesto Trailer

Design Manifesto Blog post

excessively detailed post covering everything

Pretty much everyone is tired of getting burned on the "next WoW" thing that barely lasts them a month. I've had the fortune of being in every Beta though and I think this MMO is actualy different. If you've read above they've talked the talk about what they are going to do, but for the most part they've also walked the walk, and implemented those crazy ideas with a level of polish and content that few non-Blizzard devs can afford to approach. You shouldn't go wasting $60 on someone else's words though, because there's a bunch of ongoing opportunities to get into the final short beta next weekend that will let you play up to level 35ish worth of content. Edit: although various sites are giving these out they are going fast. You might have to scour if you really want one, but I'll try to keep updating the larger giveaways that don't require contests or such.

Current Beta Key Giveaways:

http://www.ign.com/prime/promo/guild-wars-2

http://gw2.cynicalbrit.com/

If you have any interest in MMOs at all then you should find a way to try this out. It encapsulates many ideas that are I think going to be the way forward for more themepark MMOs (at least until Titan drops.) Even MoP is doing some similar things, and if nothing else it might keep you occupied till that releases, without any subscription to worry about canceling.

[Frag]

Was seriously into GW1 (even built a top of the line computer for competitive play) with the Basin, Knight's Templar & Burnt Peanut for HoH as a Monk. LOVED GvG even though the guilds I played with weren't that great. Enjoyed it quite a bit (only PvP, D2 had better PvE), of course then I played an MMO where you could jump, lol.

Not sure if I'll give this a try or not, and a beta key would have helped me decide. However, all the keys at your links are gone, and apparently were gone within 10-20m of them opening. At least interest is high.

[MonTy]

The last beta for GW2 ended this weekend. Release date is set for August 28th.

I had a lot of fun during the beta events. Got a few characters to level 15 and the PvE felt different enough from other MMOs to interest me to continue on when the release version hits. The combat is a huge change and requires some adjusting if you're used to WoW type gameplay. You'll have to actually dodge around quite a bit.

Skill system is intriguing. Your core set of weapon skills (total of five) change whenever you switch weapons, so there's a lot of skill options for each class.

The events and boss fights were actually tough. Have to pay close attention to attack animations or you'll go splat really fast. It's a bit frantic and messy with a group of a dozen or so people, but it was fun. After a while the events were very similar so I'm not sure how long the game's PvE will sustain my attention, but it's looking worthy for a playthrough or two.

[NiteFox]

So, are any Lurkers getting in on this now that it's launched?

Unlike GW's system, there is a server/realm separation in play and your home server has all you characters on it. There's a regional split as well, but it does seem possible to select a US/EU world server if you're in the other region. No freely selecting regions from a dropdown list in town.

It also looks like you'll have to pay for world server moves in the future too, but right now it's free (unless everyone gets a single mulligan on their server choice). It's still probably better to stick to your region's worlds, so maybe Lurkers on both sides of the pond can work things out together.

Having a blast with the game so far. I don't think I've ever chuckled so much at the old "disguise yourself as the opposite gender to infiltrate the enemy" cliché so much.

[MonTy]

So, are any Lurkers getting in on this now that it's launched?

I haven't devoted much time to the game- only have a few characters to around level 10. Think I'm going to progress my Norn Guardian who's using mace & weapon focus. Enjoying him the most so far. My other characters are a Slyvari Ranger using two-handed bow and Charr Warrior using a greatsword.

What characters are you playing?

[FoxBat]

Amazon Basin is hanging out on US Stormbluff Isle. (Though you're welcome to join for chat even if on another server.) We supposedly got a decent WvW alliance worked out there but I haven't kept up on the details myself. As far as I know Euros there haven't had enough latency issues to complain about it or move off. Either way whenever the free transfers stop, guesting should be implemented, allowing you to visit the PvE worlds of people on your contacts list. (Other restrictions may apply but no announcement yet.)

My main character name is pretty obvious if we wanted to start a contacts list.

[Archon_Wing]

O.o My friends are on StormBuff Isles too. What a coincidence.

Playing a necromancer atm, minions are disappointing, but I'm sure I'll get stronger somehow.

I like doing the town stuff though, getting drunk and sleeping in the middle of the city is hilarious.

[NiteFox]

Well, I leapt onto a US server to see how smoothly it ran and was pretty impressed. No latency, no issues being near other players, even finished a skill point event that's been bugged on the EU servers practically since launch.

But I may jump back while it's still free. The time difference is a problem and despite being on a high-population server the number of actual other players I saw could be counted across both hands rather than the hundreds I saw yesterday on my medium-population first-choice server.

I was on Piken Square EU (chosen because that was an outpost I spent so much time in during Prophecies) but I'm open to suggestions if anyone's got any.

[Archon_Wing]

Although there's the few usual trash talkers, the community for this game is rather helpful and friendly from what I've seen.

[LennyLen]

Have any of you guys been suspended yet for turning karma into gold?

[Frag]

Just can't quite bring myself to plop money down on yet another game I might not stick with. Think I'll give it a few months and see how it shakes out. Am looking forward to hearing you guys' comments more than any other source, though.

Cheers.

[NiteFox]

I've come to a simple conclusion.

Crafting is abysmal.

Imagine WoW crafting, but about three times as needlessly complex. You spend hours gathering raw materials, which you then refine down into resources, which you then craft into parts, which you then create items out of. It's all very well when you start a tier of skill, but when you approach the end of that tier skillups are so infrequent that- Okay, here's an example; I was levelling Huntsman on my ranger, and I converted several day's worth of resource gathering into 14 rifles (which my class can't use, but that's okay because she's massively overlevelled for the level of gear I can make right now) which equated to... about two levels in the trade skill.

I'm at a level where I should be gathering tier 3/tier 4 materials, and I've yet to level a crafting profession beyond tier 1 (lvl 50); yet I get the feeling that once you hit the top level you're going to need to craft in some way to get top-tier gear. The problem is that it's far too grindy and pointless to consider at the lower levels.

Seriously, they lifted WoW's crafting system; added in the option to switch either of your two professions for a fee without losing levels gained for another (which is nice, I grant you that.) then threw on an insane levelling curve that requires vast amounts of resources that would require either weeks of resource gathering or buying in bulk from the auction house. Except the items you can manufacture aren't as good as random drops, and chances are you'll be overlevelled for them until you stop levelling.

In short, WoW's crafting is: You gain five or six skillups to produce a single piece of gear that'll hold you over for a level or two unless you get a lucky drop or quest reward, and you can make this out of the resources that you've already gathered in most circumstances. Until you get to the top-tier of crafting, in which case you do have to grind mats. It's a system that grows alongside your character and rewards you with pretty powerful equipment at the top levels in character and trade skill.

GW2's crafting is: You manufacture dozens of obsolete pieces of equipment to gain a handful of skillups, and to do so you pretty much have to exhaust your entire stock of materials that you have amassed. Now go repeat the process a few dozen times, and try not to lose interest when you hit the point that's about ten/fifteen points before the next tier in which case it'll take a dozen manufactured items to yield a single skill point.

I'm enjoying every other aspect of the game except crafting; the problem is that in order to progress in crafting any further I've got to constantly farm out the lowbie areas (anything that's level 1-15 and 15-25) over and over and over again to farm enough for those last few points. I am going for 100% exploration on this character, but the point is that I've cleared everything below level 35.

[FoxBat]

Depends how you feel about the trading post (when it's actually working.) You can save yourself some hassle and buy materials for very cheap, or just outright buy the top end crafted armors. I think the only thing you really can't buy is legendary weapons.

If you are being some economic purist, then yes crafting is probably one of the "easier" ways to get top end gear. Supposedly the Orr armor doesn't require all that much Karma grind though.

[Xyngynkynyn]

...

GW2's crafting is: You manufacture dozens of obsolete pieces of equipment to gain a handful of skillups, and to do so you pretty much have to exhaust your entire stock of materials that you have amassed. Now go repeat the process a few dozen times, and try not to lose interest when you hit the point that's about ten/fifteen points before the next tier in which case it'll take a dozen manufactured items to yield a single skill point.

...

O....M....Frakkin G!!!!!

With my experience with crafting in GW2, I can honestly say with a confident degree of certainty that you're doing it wrong; very...horribly...so.

The fastest way to level crafting (ergo the proper way) is through the discovery panel.; NOT by mass producing stuff that you probably won't use or sell (sell those 14 rifles to the merchant or salvage them for materials is what I recommend).

I take it you've never used discovery before; otherwise you wouldn't paint such a dismal picture of leveling crafting. Since you're doing Huntsman and assuming you're at least level 25 there, go to your recipes and craft: 1 Precision Green Inscription, 1 Green Longbow Stave, and 1 Rawhide String. After crafting all those, go to the discovery panel and plug in those 3 items and click the button that appears (Craft or Discover; I forget). You should now have discovered how to make Precise Crude Longbows. Care to guess how to make Precise Crude Shortbows/Harpoon Guns/Torches/Warhorns or Precise Bronze Rifles/Pistols? It's pretty elementary once you know one to figure out the others. If your between 25 and 35, I think you should gain 1 or 2 levels from that one discovery alone.

As soon as you hit the next 25 level mark (i.e. 25, 50, 75...) stop and look at your recipes to see if you have new inscription, refinements and better grade weapon components available. If so then start new discoveries with those new items. Example if you hit 50 before discovering the recipe for a Precise Crude Torch, forget about it because at that point, you'll receive less XP since you're already in a new tier so you get less bang for your (limited) materials. Always work with your top level insignias and weapon component grade to get the most XP from discoveries.

Note the text colors of the recipe names. Red means you'll learn those at the imminent next 25 level mark. Gold (I think means) you get full XP crafting that recipe. The others indicate diminishing XP every time you create them and grey means you get no XP from creating that item/component/insignia.

There is a "craft all" button in the recipe panel; don't blindly use that. You may for example be able to create 10 Precise Green Inscriptions with your existing hoard but remember that you can only craft (hence discover) 7 weapon types that use that particular inscription. You might think that you should only craft 7 then but you may be near the next 25 level mark already and if you hit that with say only 2 discoveries, then the remaining 5 become wasteful. You'll still get XP but it'll be diminished so not a good use of your resources.

Don't worry that you practically shouldn't discover all the recipes of your current tier. The only ones that matter are the top tier ones anyway so no loss. The only exception is if you really like the skin of a particular crafted item. I believe all crafted item skins don't drop from mobs and you get different skins for different tiers to boot.

Leveling crafting isn't as abysmal as you think. I too gather while exploring (also aiming for 100% world exploration) and at one point, I stopped by at Lion's Arch and worked with my spoils and gained over 100 levels in one sitting.

That's about all I have to say about that.

Hey Foxbat, you in AB? Are you doing WvW?

[Drasca]

Nitefox, I wish Xyn and (Warblaaaaaade!) gave me the crafting advice earlier on. I was giving up on crafting just like you too.

There's still a lot of other ways to gain high end gear, so crafting isn't absolutely necessary (unless playing a crazy variant). The discovery panel does lead to a lot of exp, and with enough materials, one can level up crafting to high end in half an hour to an hour.

I wish I were playing GW2 right now. Damn deployment.

[NiteFox]

Nitefox, I wish Xyn and (Warblaaaaaade!) gave me the crafting advice earlier on. I was giving up on crafting just like you too.

I wish he had to. I honestly thought the discovery panel was just for making high-end gear.

[Magicbag]

I've been playing GW2 and going slow. I'm enjoying the play and the pace.

[Archon_Wing]

/waves

Anyone still play this? My guild kinda fell apart and currently homeless (the remaining guild influence is my cardboard box), due to the rather ill advised guild missions that favored large guilds.

I really do like how progression and gameplay in this game can take many paths. Now if only they'd fix minions.

[Xyngynkynyn]

/waves

Anyone still play this? My guild kinda fell apart and currently homeless (the remaining guild influence is my cardboard box), due to the rather ill advised guild missions that favored large guilds.

I really do like how progression and gameplay in this game can take many paths. Now if only they'd fix minions.

I started with Realms Beyond but for the longest time, I seemed to be the only one logging in. So I joined the Amazon Basin in Stormbluff Isles (tier 5 WvW last I checked) so I hang out there more often. Lately though, my connection to GW2 (and no where else) has been horrible since Feb 12 so I'm rarely on lately until the situation improves. Sign up here if you want an invite.

[FoxBat]

You should have told your guildmates to check out Amazon Basin, which is fairly large in spite of having no representation requirements. (Any server welcome in spite of the post, you can easily guest now too.) Feel free to show up for the large events, then flip back to repping your small guild for the cozy chat.

Good luck on the small cozy guild part though. :p Personally I've just been using friends list and ad-hoc parties across zones for the same effect.