GUILD WARS 2 Discussion Thread.

[Tawmis]

https://beta.guildwars2.com/

It's going to up and down for offering beta.

[DeadPoolX]

https://beta.guildwars2.com/

It's going to up and down for offering beta.

Not to be rude, but that sentence reminds me of "Engrish."

Anyway... thanks, Maia and I know. I've already registered and Maia will do that tonight. Unfortunately, they haven't sent out a confirmation email yet, but given that their servers are probably overloaded, I guess delays are to be expected.

[Maiandra]

Even though we already found out about it, we still appreciate the heads up, Tawm! We might not have seen the notice and the we'd have missed out.

Honestly, I can hardly wait to get my hands on the character creator.

[Tawmis]

I am sure you both know this already, but...

https://buy.guildwars2.com/

[DeadPoolX]

I am sure you both know this already, but...

https://buy.guildwars2.com/

Yup. We're both considering pre-purchasing the game. We've got time to think it over though, since GW2 doesn't look like it'll be released until July or so.

Of course... the sooner we buy the game, the sooner we gain access to the Beta events.

[Maiandra]

Thanks, Tawm! Maybe we should make this a Guild Wars 2 thread instead.

[Tawmis]

Thanks, Tawm! Maybe we should make this a Guild Wars 2 thread instead.

Done.

[DeadPoolX]

Maia and I are in the GW2 open beta (so there's no NDA). You can get in by being chosen (which seems to be somewhat random at this point) or by pre-purchasing the game, which is what we did.

The beta got off to a rocky start on Friday, with people having trouble logging on, frequent disconnects and tons of lag. It's a beta, however, so problems are par for the course and that's what we're here to help solve.

Unfortunately, it seems a lot of players don't understand the concept behind a beta, if the responses on Facebook are any indication. They seem to view it as some sort of "free play weekend." The other response is "I paid to be in this beta."

Actually, no, you didn't. You paid for the full game; the beta is an added incentive and in fact there for your benefit. It'd be worse to have the full game released with bugs that could've been fixed beforehand.

[Expack3]

Unfortunately, it seems a lot of players don't understand the concept behind a beta, if the responses on Facebook are any indication. They seem to view it as some sort of "free play weekend." The other response is "I paid to be in this beta."

Actually, no, you didn't. You paid for the full game; the beta is an added incentive and in fact there for your benefit. It'd be worse to have the full game released with bugs that could've been fixed beforehand.

***WARNING!!! Long Reply Ahead!***

Don't get me started on that sentiment! I'm presently in the not-NDA-covered beta for Nexuiz, the CryEngine 3-based commerical re-release of the originally open-source FPS of the same name. It's more like an alpha at this stage, and, if you didn't know that the release date of May 1, 2012 is nothing more than tentative and that THQ is merely their international publishing partner (e.g. having virtually no say in the development process), you'd think the developers were mad having a beta a mere 3 weeks before launch.

Unfortunately, some fellow who claimed to have come from an independent studio to help beta-test Nexuiz, and clearly knew none of the things I previously mentioned, created a thread which, at first, politely complained about the game's appalling state before release. He then, with some prodding from myself and another beta-tester, got him to state a possible solution, which was to basically hire a few good programmers dedicated to fixing the major bugs. However, as time went on, his thread, which, to quote him, was "simply a discusion about the bugs that exist and the time frame that surrounds it", became a way to lambaste, in an eventually rude manner, anyone who disagreed with his opinion. In fact, in a private conversation I had with him, he accused the developers of lying to everyone that the game would be all ready-to-go by the time the release date hit, and using the beta as a means of prioritizing bugs based on seeing which of the numerous bugs people noticed the most. Of course, both of these assertions I knew were wrong based on my own observations of the developer's actions and statements, but it was clear from how he was putting things that he would not be convinced otherwise.

Thankfully, the fellow-in-question finally decided to take the advice of several people who had posted in his thread and personally talk to the developers via their official, public IRC channel which said developers frequently use. Afterwards, he posted an apology in his thread stating that the base assumptions he had used to craft his argument were wrong. As inversely stated above, these assumptions were that the release date of May 1, 2012 was the final release date, and that THQ was funding the whole project - thus meaning they, not the game's developers, had the final say in Nexuiz's development process.

[DeadPoolX]

Yeah, it seems gamers will bitch and moan the moment something doesn't work out exactly as intended. I can understand the frustration (Maia and I just got disconnected from the GW2 beta a few minutes ago), but I don't think many of them understand how difficult it is to create a game and get it working right.

I've tried messing around with various game development programs (such as Unity, CryEngine 3, Panda3D and even Adventure Game Studio) and it's not easy. Granted, I'm not a professional developer, but given the sheer size and scope of many games made today, it'd be impossible for every facet of the game to work properly on a PC. Consoles have fewer excuses, but they're quickly becoming more like computers with each successive generation.

On a slightly unrelated note, how is Nexuis, aside from the alpha-like beta stage it's currently in, of course. It's pretty inexpensive on Steam right now. Would you say it's worth buying or should I wait for a while and see how things go?

[Expack3]

On a slightly unrelated note, how is Nexuis, aside from the alpha-like beta stage it's currently in, of course. It's pretty inexpensive on Steam right now. Would you say it's worth buying or should I wait for a while and see how things go?

To get quickly off-topic, it depends on how much you love Unreal Tournament or Quake-like arena shooters. If you don't like them, this isn't going to make you any happier. If you do, then you should be able to tolerate some of the things which are missing, such as a more succinct UI, better default mutator controls, easy-to-grasp weapons, and better lag control. Oh, and a complete lack of knowing where the flags in "Capture the Flag" more are when they aren't lying on the ground for anyone to take.

Also, I'd love to sign up for the Guild Wars 2 beta, but I simply don't have the time to dedicate to an MMO - even if it doesn't involve subscription fees. However, if I did have the time, I'd probably sign up, and if I liked what I saw, I'd definitely pre-order the game!

[Maiandra]

So we spent a lot of the weekend playing Guild Wars 2 and really enjoyed it. Half the time we spent just exploring Divinity's Reach, an enormous city with a number of different areas (if Kirkwall had been half that awesome, no one would have complained).

The game has this absolutely wonderful, whimsical, slightly steampunk feel to it, at least in the Human areas. I loved my rogue's outfit!

I'm a bandit!

A giant, automated Oompah band. Or something.

DPX and I about to enter the AMAZING palace gardens.

Although the game is definitely more in-line with traditional MMORPGs than the original Guild Wars in the fewer instanced areas, it was very player friendly and really focused on encouraging co-operation and exploring. Plus, the world is totally beautiful to explore.

[AndreaDraco]

Those screenshots are definitely breathtaking.