official Guild Wars 2

[Blackhearted]

I really doubt we'll see it released this year as much as I would love for that to happen. I'm betting those dates are just place holders so they can get pre orders. It will probably be out around this time next year with a beta next summer.

In my opinion releasing it to retail that late(next fall) could be a bit bad for them. After showing a playable(and reasonably polished looking) demo this past summer and building a lot of hype with not only current gw fans, but with the new ones they no doubt gained too, waiting that long could cause them to lose some interest of people. I'm not saying they should rush, but waiting too long(as in another full year) is likely to bite them in the ass after their showing this summer.

[trag3dy]

While I somewhat agree with you remember they originally said we would have a beta in summer 2008. But they've also always said it will be released when it's done, and not before. And I agree with that 100%. I played the Aion beta from the start and then subbed that game for 6 months, then we're also hearing all kinds of wonderful things about the FFXIV beta.. I will be happy to wait if it means a game that doesn't need to be patched constantly in the first 6 months to even be considered playable.

That way they can focus on new content and in game events like Arena net is famous for in GW1. I bet they'll probably even have some events in that game when GW2 is close to being out.

[Pupik]

About the new dye system: http://www.arena.net/blog/live-and-let-dye-%E2%80%93-kristen-perry-on-the-gw2-dye-system

[Blackhearted]

The new dye sounds pretty good, i like how much more customizable it is than gw1 with the multiple areas per piece and wider/easier color options.

On a related note: the two females on both of the edges of the last pic make me think "mesmer". Perhaps we'll be seeing that next, whenever they feel like giving us a new class reveal.

[MikeFu84]

The new dye sounds pretty good, i like how much more customizable it is than gw1 with the multiple areas per piece and wider/easier color options.

On a related note: the two females on both of the edges of the last pic make me think "mesmer". Perhaps we'll be seeing that next, whenever they feel like giving us a new class reveal.

I was thinking the same thing. I wish they would just release the full list!

[trag3dy]

I'm pretty sure you can add assassin to the list of classes, too. In one of the game play videos that has been posted, the one where the bandits are setting fire to a guys field you can see some characters that have armor that looks very similar to the GW1 assassins.

[Blackhearted]

There's a couple of new bits about dungeons in a post over at gw2guru taken from the new issue of PC Gamer UK.

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/forum/showpost.php?p=378801&postcount=266

[Pupik]

A Rewarding Experience – John Hargrove Talks About Loot

All makes so much sense, that it's amazing that no game has done it before :blink:

I can't wait for this game to be released already!

[treemonster]

the loot system and itemization looks really good.

now i can only hope they don't fill my bags with trash like every other post wow mmo seems to love to do.

[Blackhearted]

Wow. 2 new, game info containing blog posts in the same week. Been a while since we've gotten that.

Also, the Item and Loot system sounds great. I especially like how i won't have to worry about people jacking my resource nodes anymore. That always made professions in other mmo's a pain in the ass.

[c3ntury]

Is there a release date for the game yet? I might get the first Guild Wars first before getting the 2nd one.

[Nagisan]

Wow. 2 new, game info containing blog posts in the same week. Been a while since we've gotten that.

Also, the Item and Loot system sounds great. I especially like how i won't have to worry about people jacking my resource nodes anymore. That always made professions in other mmo's a pain in the ass.

Yeah, theres always that one asshat who will see you trying to mine a node, get attacked by something (interrupting you), then wait until you start fighting it to start mining that node you are standing right next to. Glad to see GW2 will fix that problem.

The drop system sounds really interesting but there are a few questions. Each player rolls for drops etc, does that mean if an item has a 10% drop chance, each player has a 10% drop chance of that item, or if it drops every player in the party gets that same item? I have a feeling its the former, which is cool, but the later would be nice so people are able to get the item more easily (do not have to rely on that 10% when you loot the mob, only when your party kills it) but the later would also put a ton more "rare" items into the game unless they made them even more rare.

Disappointed they are adding an in-game store though, I had not heard of that until the latest info where they mention the transfusion things or whatever to transfer stats from one item to another.....might be a bit late noticing it but that sort of sucks that it will only be an option for people willing to pay for it, not really opening the game up to allow players to look how they want to look by going that method (like they said they want to a few sentences before that announcement) IMHO.

[trag3dy]

Yeah, theres always that one asshat who will see you trying to mine a node, get attacked by something (interrupting you), then wait until you start fighting it to start mining that node you are standing right next to. Glad to see GW2 will fix that problem.

The drop system sounds really interesting but there are a few questions. Each player rolls for drops etc, does that mean if an item has a 10% drop chance, each player has a 10% drop chance of that item, or if it drops every player in the party gets that same item? I have a feeling its the former, which is cool, but the later would be nice so people are able to get the item more easily (do not have to rely on that 10% when you loot the mob, only when your party kills it) but the later would also put a ton more "rare" items into the game unless they made them even more rare.

Disappointed they are adding an in-game store though, I had not heard of that until the latest info where they mention the transfusion things or whatever to transfer stats from one item to another.....might be a bit late noticing it but that sort of sucks that it will only be an option for people willing to pay for it, not really opening the game up to allow players to look how they want to look by going that method (like they said they want to a few sentences before that announcement) IMHO.

Of course it stands to reason that they would use a similar store that they created for GW1 to sell things like extra character slots and more storage space. Things that don't really affect the game. And it doesn't say you'll have to pay money to obtain those transmutation stones, it just say they'll be in the store.

Anyways, the more I learn about this game the more I want it now. Everything in that article sounds awesome. I can't wait!

[Blackhearted]

Of course it stands to reason that they would use a similar store that they created for GW1 to sell things like extra character slots and more storage space. Things that don't really affect the game. And it doesn't say you'll have to pay money to obtain those transmutation stones, it just say they'll be in the store.

Anyways, the more I learn about this game the more I want it now. Everything in that article sounds awesome. I can't wait!

It's pretty much been confirmed those come with a price: http://www.guildwars2guru.com/forum/showpost.php?p=380212&postcount=59

[Nagisan]

Of course it stands to reason that they would use a similar store that they created for GW1 to sell things like extra character slots and more storage space. Things that don't really affect the game. And it doesn't say you'll have to pay money to obtain those transmutation stones, it just say they'll be in the store.

Anyways, the more I learn about this game the more I want it now. Everything in that article sounds awesome. I can't wait!

I can understand things like extra character slots and what not available for money, but actual items that do have an effect in game should not be in GW2 IMHO.

Also, even before the confirmation I was quite certain that the transmutation stones were store-only items, re-read "you’ll be able to acquire new items known as Transmutation Stones through our in-game store that allow you to customize your appearance", it says you will be able to "acquire new items <snip> through the in-game store". That to me says those new items they mention (in the <snip> part) will only be available in the in-game store, but putting logic (or at least how I see logic) aside, it has been confirmed that they are in-store items only. Hopefully they at the very least allow trading of those in-store items, I mean if trading cash shop items is allowed, Anet still gets the exact same amount of money they would otherwise so no harm done. The only difference is they get more money from certain people, and less from others, while still getting none from those who do not use/like cash shops, but allowing those people to obtain the items without buying them, so the average player is not forced to watch others use items that they cannot obtain.

I'm not saying GW2 is going to suck with cash shop only items, but I hate cash shops as they allow those with more money than sense to pay the game devs to make their character better than their opponents (this is just a general statement on cash shops, not directed at GW2 directly since we do not know if there will be any character-enhancing items in its CS yet).

[MikeFu84]

If Anet holds true to what they've said in the past, these purchasable items will be cosmetic only.

[treemonster]

If Anet holds true to what they've said in the past, these purchasable items will be cosmetic only.

that's what cryptic said about STO's cash shop right up until they released a $25 OP ship two months before it could be obtained through in game means. so i'll take it with a grain of salt.

it might turn out the services and items in the gw2 cash shop will be mainly cosmetic and not a means to buy in game power with irl cash.

touching on something nagisan said about these items being tradeable and sellable in game from cash shop buyers to non cash shop buyers, there are pros and cons to such a system. in every f2p game i've seen where there where even mainly cosmetic items only in the cash shop that could be sold to other players this way, it was used as a means to make in game cash using irl cash. it was a huge part of these games' economies and these items would be the most hotly traded items in the games' markets. so basically it became a legit form of RMT.

[Nagisan]

touching on something nagisan said about these items being tradeable and sellable in game from cash shop buyers to non cash shop buyers, there are pros and cons to such a system. in every f2p game i've seen where there where even mainly cosmetic items only in the cash shop that could be sold to other players this way, it was used as a means to make in game cash using irl cash. it was a huge part of these games' economies and these items would be the most hotly traded items in the games' markets. so basically it became a legit form of RMT.

Is there anything wrong with that though?

Instead of a player using ebay or other means to sell items they are buying the item through the cash shop and then selling that item to another player for in-game cash. It won't stop all forms of EULA-breaking transactions as a player cannot get cash for items they have in game, but it will reduce the amount of people paying money to other players for items instead of either buying it directly through the cash shop or buying it from other players in-game without spending any RL money, it will allow the developers to collect more money as opposed to money simply going to other players.

[trag3dy]

If the in game store from GW1 is anything to go by then the items sold in it will only be cosmetic. If they said they were selling the "crests of the legion" that is mentioned later in that article it would be a different story entirely but it specifically mentions that a tailor can make those.

Although I don't mind the transmutation stones being sold in the store I would like to see a way to get them in game, as well. Anyways, this game will not have a monthly fee so you really can't object to them selling cosmetic items like this in the in game store. You're already saving money if you play this game.. as apposed to FFXIV, where they charge you for every single character slot beyond your first ontop of the monthly fee that is required to play that game.

[treemonster]

Is there anything wrong with that though?

Instead of a player using ebay or other means to sell items they are buying the item through the cash shop and then selling that item to another player for in-game cash. It won't stop all forms of EULA-breaking transactions as a player cannot get cash for items they have in game, but it will reduce the amount of people paying money to other players for items instead of either buying it directly through the cash shop or buying it from other players in-game without spending any RL money, it will allow the developers to collect more money as opposed to money simply going to other players.

well it tends to end up where people who can afford more of these items with irl cash end up more powerful in game as a direct result of their irl cash as opposed to their ingame actions.

also it doesn't necessarily mean RMT companies still wouldn't at the very least flood chat channels for the game at launch with spam anyway and operate within the game. during it's lifetime.

while it does profit the dev's directly(which is a good thing if they continue to churn out free content, between expansions-dunno if this happened in gw, i know they had regular balance changes), it still allows players to buy in game power with irl actions more or less instantly. and in games the big stigma about RMT in teh first place is that it was some how unfair to people unable to afford those services.

theoretically in a pay per month mmo, like wow or w/e, why should the devs care if RMT farmers are selling in game gold for money as long as they are using scammed credit cards or scamming credit card info off their customers? why should they care if players buy gold as long as they are doing it off legitimate sites? both parties pay their subs? ofc devs are missing out on profit through licensing these services and approving them, which would cut down the credit card fraud and ad spam down considerably in mmo's.

so in effect, RMT like this, which is allowed, is not much, if any different from illegal RMT, except it cuts out the middle man who spend 8-16 hours per day as a team of farmers to make far more than they would in a local factory in their country. this is aofc assuming that the RMT treats their customers' information with respect, and this has been hit or miss in recent years, with many so called RMT sites existing purely to defraud people of their cc details.

kinda playing devil's advocate here, because back when i bought adenas in l2, i wished it was legit through ncsoft themselves ro through ncsoft approved buyers for various reasons. as well i'd like to see a game that had an officially approved bot you could run 24/7 for the leveling and farming parts of the game... sword of the new world came close, but when you grinded 24/7 afk in that game you missed out on a lot of drops. that also happens to be one of the games where this sort of scenario with players selling cash shop items for in game currency happened.

there are both pros and cons to this sort of thing, and people who support both sides of the argument. in theory it can be done right, but in most cases it leads to hyperinflated economies, a huge gap between rich and poor players(both in terms of irl wealth and in game wealth), and huge amounts of time spent grinding for in game cash if you can't afford to pay for these items with irl cash.

[trag3dy]

Well all I have to say about that is Guild Wars 2 is being developed by Arena-Net, not NCsoft. It's not a korean game like Lineage 2 or Sword of the New World. I'm not trying to slam korean games I'm just trying to say that GW2 and those two particular games are of a completely different style and have different design philosophies behind them.

The only thing they sold in the in game store that came close to what you're talking about is the skill packs. Which if you didn't want to spend the money on them you could unlock the skills through regular gameplay. And this only applied to the pvp portion of the game which in no way affected the pve portion of the game where generally speaking everyone was equal but for the actual skill of the player. Anyways, there's no need to worry as I said above. The stat affect items like the crests will be made in game by players, according to that article.

[treemonster]

well as far as ncsoft's involvement with gw2 and arena net goes... it's hard to say what will happen. there's been a few rumours here and there like tamat becoming a CM for gw2 and anet guys were involved with aion's management in the west, which was, is and continues to be a total cluster****. there's also some overlap such as iirc you tie your gw account to your ncsoft master account and this has led to speculation that possibly coincidentally timed surges in hack accounts for both games was due to poor /lax security measures in place.

but if ncsoft is involved with this aspect of gw2(the cash shop) rest assured that bought items will not be tradeable among players, as is the case with aion and in game bonuses that come with special editions of the game or from that game's cash shop. that being said pets in aion went on sale for $10 a piece that have in game functions and aside from the pet model are buyable in game(and they're cheap too) a couple weeks before the 12month vet reward was announced which was a pet that did everything any other pet can do all in one and more of it(ie 12 bag slots instead of six). some people were ****ed and got refunds.

and it wouldn't be the first time ncsoft west interfered with a game devved and managed by one of it's western studios. just look back at tabula rasa for example.

i take promises that "oh no this is anet, not ncsoft" with a grain of salt for a game that when you load it up the first thing you will see is the ncsoft logo, based on ncsoft's history. and the game being managed well very much depends on if ncsoft west is willing to keep their aion and l2 staff as far away from it as possible.

[trag3dy]

Well, I just loaded up GW1 to see, and no where in any of the loading screens is there an NCsoft logo. I don't think NCsoft really has much at all to do with A-net and to add to that I think you're preparing for the worst when we haven't really had any indication that it will go that way. It's only been said that one cosmetic item will be for sale in the in game store and another stat-altering item will be made by players. I don't like the term "cash shop" because that implies that you can buy items that will make your character more powerful to me and there is simply no evidence that that will happen yet.

I guess the prepare for the worst hope for the best attitude is okay to take with mmos but everything we've seen so far hasn't shown it will go the way you're describing yet.

I'm probably sounding like an A-net fanboy here and that is somewhat true because to this day GW1 (and expansions) is probably one of my favorite games of all time and GW2 is looking like it will be a very worthy successor. It's probably to early to say it yet, but GW2 is looking like a total game changer as far as the mmo market is concerned.

[bloodrain]

You kids crack me up. It's a video game and its gonna be awesome. Stop crying about a game bc it has a few things you'd do differently.

[Nagisan]

The only thing they sold in the in game store that came close to what you're talking about is the skill packs. Which if you didn't want to spend the money on them you could unlock the skills through regular gameplay. And this only applied to the pvp portion of the game which in no way affected the pve portion of the game where generally speaking everyone was equal but for the actual skill of the player. Anyways, there's no need to worry as I said above. The stat affect items like the crests will be made in game by players, according to that article.

Skill packs actually did make a very minor impact in PvE. If you unlocked a skill via a skill pack, you could (for normal skills) buy it from any trainer in the proper expansion, and for elites, you could learn the elite skill using an elite skill tome, but ONLY if you unlocked it already (which could be done with the pay-for skill packs). But yes, other then the skill packs, nothing they released in the GW1 store really had any effect in game.

Well, I just loaded up GW1 to see, and no where in any of the loading screens is there an NCsoft logo. I don't think NCsoft really has much at all to do with A-net and to add to that I think you're preparing for the worst when we haven't really had any indication that it will go that way.

Anet uses their own engine and everything, as part of the deal they let other NCSoft games use parts of their engine. It is pretty odd there is little NCSoft branding in GW, but if you use the store you create an NCSoft master account, which you then can log into through the NCSoft site to make changes to your GW account. So you are right, there is little sight of NCSoft in GW itself, but it is there via the Store (or at least, the account part of the store) so its possible that Anet used other means to pay back NCSoft (as opposed to putting NCSoft branding into the game).