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I am thinking they haven't enabled DX10 yet because the official wiki says it is supported.

Source: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Guild_Wars_2:_The_Status_Quo#8._Revised_graphic_engine

I love the game, it's totally awesome I only noticed a few things that need to be fixed, I managed to complete the human starting zone and explore some of the cities but I couldn't get into Kessex Hills as it would not load past 95%, apparently a problem with European servers because switching to American allowed me to move out of there.

Most of my time was spent in WvWvW and the PvP with friends while trying out classes and I find Thief most fun, (probably going to be Human too), only classes I didn't try were Mesmer, Necromancer and Guardian but I have no interest in any of those so it's doubtful I ever will try them.

As for races, well it depends on the class which race I'd pick.,It'd probably be human but I'd definitely say no to Charr! :angry: They're the enemy! Bunch of overgrown kitties! :rofl: and I'd never roll an Asura, unless it was off the side of a really big cliff. :shifty: Sylvari for me look better in the concept art than their appearance in-game, I can understand the visual style of the Sylvari they are going for but they look too much like trees and leaves now for my tastes, the wood elf look suited them better in my opinion. Wearing the foliage rather than being the foliage. :rofl:

Our server in WvWvW was Desolation, winning three times during the BWE against whatever servers it matched us up against, which seemed to either have better players or more players than the other servers because we ended up defending Stonemist Castle for 5 hours straight against continued assaults by both blue and green invaders before they managed to take it. :rofl:

SK[' timestamp=1335787764' post='594834643]

GW2 is a great looking game even at the lowest of low settings.

Which I found out with my measly GTS250 and Phenom in WvWvW, can someone say "200 people on screen doing crazy AoE and spell effects graphical lag"? :rofl:

Did anyone attend the beta finale event? I wasn't even aware of it until after it was over. :rofl:

Nope. :/ Because in my opinion it really wasn't a great idea by ArenaNet, to have a Beta Finale at 11PM PDT, that's 7am in the morning over here. Pretty sure no one is going to be awake at 7am on a Monday morning to see it when they have things to do. :rofl: So yeah I missed it too. :(

You didn't. I appreciate that. I put the other guy on ignore, cause he was an ass.

Although, as I said many times. I will buy it. So all this 'for not buying it' crap? Woo. Way to miss the point.

I think you're missing the point too. :/ What you said does seem to basically say: "No DX10/11? I don't want it." The simple fact is, it's a beta, it has many features missing that will be present near or at launch. It doesn't ruin the enjoyment of the game, it still looks amazing on the lowest settings and absolutely beautiful on max settings even with DX9. But sure, go ahead and wait, in my mind you're just missing out on some of the enjoyment of the game for what is a stupid reason. :D

On that note, I can't wait for the next BWE! (With or without DX10. :rofl:)

- Shido

Nope. :/ Because in my opinion it really wasn't a great idea by ArenaNet, to have a Beta Finale at 11PM PDT, that's 7am in the morning over here. Pretty sure no one is going to be awake at 7am on a Monday morning to see it when they have things to do. :rofl: So yeah I missed it too. :(

You're aware that Anet headquarters is in Seattle Washington right? Hence the 11pm pdt finale time? To be brutally honest the beta finale wasn't for the EU people. :rofl:

HellBoundIRL: Can you show a screenshot of your game play in action? I just think that you might be refering to Guild Wars and not Guild Wars 2.

No, it was definitely Guild Wars 2 I was playing.

I deleted the client last night, I didn't take any screens while playing but I was running it on high detail.

I didn't even know there was one! What happened during it?

They spawned killer white rabbits (not kidding)... that were level 80s and legendary. It took like 75 of us 30 minutes to kill one of them. After that, they summoned a whole lot of black moas that were like level 15, but were legendary, so they could barely be killed... and they were everywhere. It was mass chaos.

They spawned killer white rabbits (not kidding)... that were level 80s and legendary. It took like 75 of us 30 minutes to kill one of them. After that, they summoned a whole lot of black moas that were like level 15, but were legendary, so they could barely be killed... and they were everywhere. It was mass chaos.

So it was like armageddon then. Sucks I missed it, though would of been like.. 1 AM my time.

That fight with everyone on the legendary rabbit crushed my framerate so hard. Even the shadow behemoth fight(which had an fps hit) wasn't that bad.

Also, I just remembered that i didn't test to see if gw2 would run decently on my laoptop(in my sig). Bah.

I think you're missing the point too. :/ What you said does seem to basically say: "No DX10/11? I don't want it." The simple fact is, it's a beta, it has many features missing that will be present near or at launch. It doesn't ruin the enjoyment of the game, it still looks amazing on the lowest settings and absolutely beautiful on max settings even with DX9. But sure, go ahead and wait, in my mind you're just missing out on some of the enjoyment of the game for what is a stupid reason. :D

Sure, that's the main reason I lack excitement. There's also the unfinished earlier games. There's also that I'd rather wait for the full game so I don't waste my time with characters that'll be deleted anyway. There's also that I'm in the middle of a good number of other games already and would rather finish them than spend time getting nothing accomplished.

Anyway, since you all seem to be fixated on this I'm out of here. I'll discuss GW2 again when there's actually something worth discussing.

Sure, that's the main reason I lack excitement. There's also the unfinished earlier games. There's also that I'd rather wait for the full game so I don't waste my time with characters that'll be deleted anyway. There's also that I'm in the middle of a good number of other games already and would rather finish them than spend time getting nothing accomplished.

Anyway, since you all seem to be fixated on this I'm out of here. I'll discuss GW2 again when there's actually something worth discussing.

Do you not understand the purpose of a beta? It's not about wasting time with characters that will be deleted. It's not supposed to be a demo. This is a true beta test, you're supposed to find what's broken and give feedback on it so it will be fixed when the game goes live. I think what you are expecting and the reality of things are very different.

I've been reading the forums a lot and Anet has been actively replying in a lot of threads, mostly about the dynamic events scaling. Now is the time to voice your opinion on what you'd like to see in the game. It just seems awfully short sighted to say you don't want anything to do with it because you won't be able to keep your characters.

Do you not understand the purpose of a beta? It's not about wasting time with characters that will be deleted. It's not supposed to be a demo. This is a true beta test, you're supposed to find what's broken and give feedback on it so it will be fixed when the game goes live. I think what you are expecting and the reality of things are very different.

I've been reading the forums a lot and Anet has been actively replying in a lot of threads, mostly about the dynamic events scaling. Now is the time to voice your opinion on what you'd like to see in the game. It just seems awfully short sighted to say you don't want anything to do with it because you won't be able to keep your characters.

Don't even bother with him. None of what he said as his reasons were what he came in here saying it wasn't worth buying over. Half of those points, made their first appearance in that thread.

You're right, it isn't! But for me it would be.

So yeah, about that timely exit. I'm off.

I think you missed that queue a while ago.

Don't even bother with him. None of what he said as his reasons were what he came in here saying it wasn't worth buying over. Half of those points, made their first appearance in that thread.

True.

So now we wait until the next beta. End of next month probably?

Here's a quest for everyone. Could you actually go to the asura and sylvari starting areas? I saw a portal to the asura one but never actually checked to see if I could go there or not. The asura area that they show in the trailers looks amazing.

I hope they tell us what changes they make between the betas if any.

You could walk up to the portals to Rata Sum(asura captial) and The Grove(sylvari captial) but if you tried to go through it you would just keep on walking. And chances are you probably saw a circle with a slash through it on that portal as well signifying that it doesn't work.

I think you missed that queue a while ago.

True.

So now we wait until the next beta. End of next month probably?

Here's a quest for everyone. Could you actually go to the asura and sylvari starting areas? I saw a portal to the asura one but never actually checked to see if I could go there or not. The asura area that they show in the trailers looks amazing.

I hope they tell us what changes they make between the betas if any.

As black said it was disabled. I think the plan is to have it be the RELEASE difference. As I think every other area is more or less unlocked as long as you can walk it. I hope there are patch notes, as I am curious to see if anything I reported was classified as a bug or not.

So what are peoples opinions on the game?

I am really interested in getting it. I've always liked the idea of MMO's but don't like paying a monthly subscription.

I used to/do play Phantasy Star Online, which is a very watered down MMO but i always liked the group play where just a bunch of mates go round and have a laugh.

So i'm just wondering if it is worth picking up and taking part in a future beta weekend?

Plus is it newbie friendly? as in i will be going into the game on my own with no friends.

Love it!

Like you I hate subs. Who doesn't I guess? Thing is with WoW Blizzard IMO justified the subs with the sheer amount of content they churn out.

I played the beta so far solo, the game is designed so you can play solo and not need to group up. You also end up playing with others anyway since events occur for everyone in that area without the need to add them to your party.

Really recommend it to any RPG player who doesn't like subscription. I also recommend GW1 but really its old, nothing like GW2 and possibly too much to get though before GW2 ships (still no ETA).

SK[' timestamp=1335873012' post='594837173]

Love it!

Like you I hate subs. Who doesn't I guess? Thing is with WoW Blizzard IMO justified the subs with the sheer amount of content they churn out.

I played the beta so far solo, the game is designed so you can play solo and not need to group up. You also end up playing with others anyway since events occur for everyone in that area without the need to add them to your party.

Really recommend it to any RPG player who doesn't like subscription. I also recommend GW1 but really its old, nothing like GW2 and possibly too much to get though before GW2 ships (still no ETA).

I agree, with everything. Except as much as I say I played solo, I technically didn't. Every quest/heart thing I was with many other people. I just wasn't in a party with them.

Sounds good. I am still hoping to find some people on there who will party up and go out on quests together, as i think this is where MMOs come into their own.

I did play Guild Wars 1 when it was first released, also was in one of the betas. This is why i'm interested in picking up the sequel but this time sinking some proper hours in it.

I agree with subscription models for MMOs like WoW because they have to maintain servers and pay their employees to make more content, so it makes sense. I personally just don't like them because i may not play the game for a month but i'm still paying for it. Micro Transactions are a good idea but a lot of MMOs that offer these completely unbalance the game for players who just put in the hours instead just paying for it.

Sounds good. I am still hoping to find some people on there who will party up and go out on quests together, as i think this is where MMOs come into their own.

You will probably be able to. It almost feels like you are constantly in a group of randoms every quest you do.

Sounds good. I am still hoping to find some people on there who will party up and go out on quests together, as i think this is where MMOs come into their own.

I did play Guild Wars 1 when it was first released, also was in one of the betas. This is why i'm interested in picking up the sequel but this time sinking some proper hours in it.

I agree with subscription models for MMOs like WoW because they have to maintain servers and pay their employees to make more content, so it makes sense. I personally just don't like them because i may not play the game for a month but i'm still paying for it. Micro Transactions are a good idea but a lot of MMOs that offer these completely unbalance the game for players who just put in the hours instead just paying for it.

That's the thing. There are no quests in the game. At all. At least not in the traditional sense that we're used to in current mmos. You can group up, certainly, but you don't need to. Your buffs even hit people who aren't grouped with you up to maximum of 5 (anet confirmed buffs are designed to hit 5 people only in group or outside of groups, I assume they give priority to group members though). You have dynamic events which vary quite drastically from one to another, heart locations which are the closest things to regular quests in the game currnetly, skill point locations and so on. All over which anyone can participate in with you at any time without being a detriment to you. Unless they are just afk and artificially increasing difficulty through scaling.

And the only complaint you might be able to levy against the in game store is that it sells increase exp/karma items. Which when it comes down to it don't make a whole of sense to use. I reached level 15 exactly when I was meant to, when I had finished every heart and skill point in the area.

That's the thing. There are no quests in the game. At all. At least not in the traditional sense that we're used to in current mmos. You can group up, certainly, but you don't need to. Your buffs even hit people who aren't grouped with you up to maximum of 5 (anet confirmed buffs are designed to hit 5 people only in group or outside of groups, I assume they give priority to group members though). You have dynamic events which vary quite drastically from one to another, heart locations which are the closest things to regular quests in the game currnetly, skill point locations and so on. All over which anyone can participate in with you at any time without being a detriment to you. Unless they are just afk and artificially increasing difficulty through scaling.

And the only complaint you might be able to levy against the in game store is that it sells increase exp/karma items. Which when it comes down to it don't make a whole of sense to use. I reached level 15 exactly when I was meant to, when I had finished every heart and skill point in the area.

Let's be perfectly honest - the hearts are kill/fetch quests basically, the the events themselves aren't really revolutionary either. They're pretty much dynamically rotating public quests. Still the fact that you don't need to explicitly group up is a change from traditional MMOs.

If you're sitting on the fence though, it's shaping up to be a great great game. From what I've played of the betas, the core of the game is extremely solid. They don't really have any major design issues that would require considerable rework. What ANet needs to do now is polish more until it shines, and tune balance between the classes (especially melee vs range in PvE) and difficulty / scaling of the events. The world is beautifully gorgeous with a really handpainted watercolour feel, the music is fabulous (thanks to Jeremy Soule of course) and when the client isn't lagging to hell and back, combat feels refreshing.

As a comparison if you may, the Diablo 3 beta didn't really leave me craving for more. This however has left me hungering to play it even now, sometime after the BWE.

The game's core mechanics feel solid, but based on my experience with the beta it needs some work still.

1) It feels very unpolished. Various audio/visual glitches, as well as the lag spikes, some sluggish feeling when using abilities, etc. This needs some work before release.

2) The "heart" quests are fairly.. eh. The one that comes to mind is running around fighting spiders and collecting apples. It did not grip me. Sure, i beat it and got my XP, but i did not really enjoy my time doing the uninspired quests.

3) I feel the game starts to become boring when too many people are in an area. In smaller groups you feel like you are making a difference, and you matter. But when there are 40+ people doing one of the events you become just a face in the crowd, and i, personally, begin to feel insignificant. This may just be personal, and i'll attempt to stick with smaller events and groups.

4) Levels 1-5 are fairly boring. Until you unlock utility skills you have very little variety in combat. For instance, on my guardian i could only auto attack for the first few levels until i got a shield, and then it really did not change all that much. This was less problematic on my mesmer, but the crappy clone AI on the mesmer also caused issues.

5) Horrible, horrible performance on the beta. I feel i have a decent computer, but i was only pulling like 20 FPS in most areas on the beta. It's a known issue by them, but i feel it needs to take priority.

They have a bit to go till it's ready for release, but i feel this will be a fantastic game if they can fix up a few issues.

^ Yes, the hearts are kill / fetch quests - but you don't need to run miles away to collect the reward, nor do you need to talk to someone to initiate it. It's more like 1 quest that you can achieve in multiple ways, rather than being 3 seperate quests that you have to do one after the other from the same NPC;

Step 1) Gather something from the floor

Step 2) Kill loads of these things to get 5 legs (why doesn't every boar have a leg?)

Step 3) Kill 10 of these things with the potion we made out of the 5 boar legs.

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UFC 6 has that same option but also offers a more cinematic entrance to the career experience than I expected with ‘The Legacy’ mode. This mini-campaign follows an up-and-coming fighter, Chris Carter, who is attempting to reach the heights his father had reached in the sport. Starting with a small-time gym and coach, the story follows both his growth in the space as well as the growing rivalry with a friend and fighter, Danny Lopez. The fights in this mode are very good at introducing a newcomer like me to the sport and its varying techniques. Cinematics land between the major fights, showing the growing tension between the two fighters as the years go by, feeling the pressure to not miss out on the hard-earned chances. The dialogue can be a little corny at times, especially when the bar fights kick off, but I largely enjoyed the storyline. At the end of it, I was pretty much familiar with all the mechanics of the career mode, unlocking new skills and moves, and how I needed to approach fights, both outside and inside the ring. This story mode isn’t a very lengthy one, so don’t expect an hour-long campaign. Once the conclusion is reached, Carter’s journey continues as if it’s a normal career playthrough, though I decided to start over from scratch now that I have some know-how about the basics. The career mode is very streamlined, which is to be expected considering there isn’t a team to manage like in other EA Sports games. It’s the journey of one fighter. When a fight comes up in the calendar, I could choose how many weeks I dedicate to preparing for it at the gym. A longer prep time gives the opportunity to get my fighter’s fitness up (giving a bonus during fights), earn more money and points for unlocking new skills, and gain more fans to fast-track the rise to stardom. While that sounds like a lot of things to manage, it’s more like a few clicks. There is a social media menu that sometimes pops up with canned replies I can send to fans, and the sponsors are once again a single click away from being assigned as finished. It’s the training aspect that adds a gameplay angle. Using the money from winnings and sponsorships, I was hiring different types of trainers and learning fancier moves to use in the ring. One small thing I appreciated was that it was possible to injure each other during these training sessions. If a trainer goes down in a bad way while sparring, they won’t be available for the remainder of training. If my fighter is injured, it takes valuable time and resources to heal and recuperate. Just like in real life, it makes sense not to go so hard during training sessions and save that energy for the main event. Every training or sponsorship activity I took part in used up the days and weeks I had before the next fight, bringing a balancing element to the whole ordeal. There were times I simulated most of these to just get to the next fight, but the grind for gaining even the slightest bit of advantage while trying not to overdo it is an enjoyable one. Outside of quick fights and career modes, UFC 6 also introduces an almost museum-like mode to explore a trio of fighters considered to be legends of the sport: Max Holloway, Alex Pereira, and Zhang Weili. The aptly named Hall of Legends mode is unlike everything else seen in the game. Each of these fighters has entire levels dedicated to them that I could walk around in and explore their journey into the UFC. This includes footage from real-life fights and interviews about their original inspirations and training methods. Each of these spaces is almost like an interactive documentary. Once the highlights are done, the mode offers the opportunity to take over a deciding fight from the superstars. It’s an impressive transition. Going from the real-life televised event with crowds and commentary to immediately taking over in the game has some real hype behind it. Performance and visuals It’s clear to see that UFC 6 is going for a photo-realism look with its visuals compared to any other fighting game. The fighters don’t look great in selection screens. But inside the arenas, under the flood lights, surrounded by crowds, and facing an opponent, the visuals are more than impressive. As ghastly as it is to witness, things like blood spraying into the mat and muscles reddening as they get pummeled keep improving the immersion. The fluid animations help sell the illusion even further. A missed kick carries the momentum to require a corrective step. Hard punches that glance off blocks give off the air of a hit that still took some wind off the opponent’s guard. The special moves with flips and spins look mega awkward when missing, just as they do in real life. Suffice to say, the Frostbite Engine powering this game is one of the biggest strengths of EA development studios. Playing on the Xbox Series X, the 60 FPS gameplay did not miss the mark or cause any slowdowns that I could detect. I still wish this series were on PC to see just how far the developer can push the engine. One area I continue to have issues with, surprisingly enough, is the menus. The game has fast loading screens, but almost every menu I click through has a large amount of noticeable lag before it registers. This is immensely painful in the career mode, since I have to go through multiple menus between fights to train and do sponsorships, and having a 3-second pause when selecting a simple move between pages is the only time that made me quit the game. Thanks to Xbox’s quick resume, though, I was able to instantly jump back in the next day to the same point (and wade through more laggy menus). Conclusion My primary mission going into this EA Sports UFC 6 review as a newcomer to the series was to find out if this is a good jumping-in point for someone like me. Suffice it to say, the game passed that test with flying colors. Despite the high skill ceiling, the legacy mode introduction campaign, multiple types of accessible controls, and streamlined career had me picking up the basics and fighting styles much faster than I expected. I wish I had gotten to try out competitive multiplayer during my time with the game, too, but the lack of players in the pre-release version prevented this. The impressive visuals and animations, coupled with the impact physics that let me feel every punch and kick easily, made this the most immersive fighting game I have played. The only part that gave me pause was the grappling gameplay, which killed the momentum in most fights. The Flow State amplifying system didn’t hamper the experience, but I also felt like it made more sense for an arcade fighter, not this. Easily the most annoying thing about UFC 6 was its laggy menus, which I hope get some sort of fix later. Returning series veterans might have a completely different experience from me. But for a new fan like me looking to climb ranks and see fighters get floored in spectacular ways, UFC 6 doesn’t miss a step. EA Sports UFC 6 is releasing on June 19 across Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 for $69.99. Ultimate Edition owners can already jump in via advanced access. This review was conducted on the Xbox Series X version of the game provided by EA.
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