Crashed and Burned

My beta experience has been less than satisfactory. In a 72 hour beta period, I have been able to play about 1 hour. I have logged in over 100 times. Like many people, I’m experiencing crash after crash after crash.

After crash.

Character creation works just fine, so I have done lots of that. I’ve also made it through the tutorial for each race and killed some critters, but that’s as far as I got. I was logged in for between <1 minute to ~10 minutes. I enjoyed what I played, but I want to play more. The most play time I have had so far has been with my elementalist. I did my best to create Harry Dresden as a norn and made him into a fire ele. I had some fun, but it was frequently short-lived.

ANet’s been pretty good about working on crashing issues, but mine haven’t been resolved, sadly. It’s beta though, so I expected to encounter problems.

That being said, I want to take a minute to rant at those people who are whining about beta…

Seriously folks. It’s beta. You haven’t wasted your money if beta has problems. It’s beta. It’s going to have problems. Are there more issues than expected? Perhaps. But you didn’t pre-purchase the beta, you pre-purchased the game. If the game comes out and has these problems, then you can complain. Until then, learn some patience or find another game.

So yeah, I plan on kicking ass and taking names in future betas. For now, I’ll peruse the videos and pics on the new GW2guru and read the beta forums.

Belzan in BWE1

Post PAX Perceptions

Run Away!!!

After reading interview after interview, watching video after video, reading article after article, and stuffing myself on all of the new knowledge  from PAX, I must say, I’m exhausted. While Hunter and Nicholas and others continue to analyze the information from PAX, I am content to wait for people to update the wiki with new info about skills and traits and such. I’m also a short skip away from speculating further about professions 7 (mesmer) and 8 (who knows). I do have some thoughts on all of the PAX info though. FYI, I did not visit PAX. I sat at home and hit F5 on the GW2Guru thread like everyone else.

First of all, I am tired of watching guardian and thief videos. They are fantastic to watch and I’m excited to try out the guardian now that I’ve seen more of what they can do. I’m also up to the challenge of playing a thief. I’m just tired of watching essentially the same two videos. I know these guys are the new kids on the block, but there was some interesting information about the other 4 professions that was overlooked due to the zeal with which people created and posted videos of these two professions.

I got to see the warrior wield a greatsword for a little while, which was nice. It looks like a devastating weapon for sure. I also got to see a ranger video that  was well done, though for some reason the player wasn’t using a pet. Both of these videos can be seen on GuildWars2Live.com.

What really disappointed me was I never found a clear video of a necro wielding a staff or of the elementalist using air attunement. These are two of the professions I am most interested in playing and I was hoping to get more info about them. Also, apparently there have been changes made to the necro’s death shroud skills (namely, Shadow Fiend was removed). Thankfully, I found the new skill for that on the wiki (Dark Path if you’re interested). Only a handful of the air spells have been posted on wiki and I haven’t seen any video of them in action. /pout

Crafting UI from GW2

As for crafting, I saw several videos that included people acquiring materials during play. It really was as simple as walking up to the resource, interacting with it for about 5 seconds, and moving on with your business. The crafting UI was available for interaction and viewing, but actual trufax crafting wasn’t available due to the lack of workbenches in the demo. Still, I’m excited about the crafting system as a whole and it looks pretty user friendly and non-punishing. I have zero experience with crafting from other games, so I’m really looking forward to exploring it.

On a final note, or should I say ANet teaser: Aquatic Weapons.

That pretty much sums up my take from PAX East. I’m looking forward to hearing what Izzie at Talk Tyria and Ravious at Kill Ten Rats have to say about their experiences at PAX. If you haven’t seen them, you can watch a video of them with several other GW Fans and bloggers at the meet and greet on GW2Live.

EDIT: New gameplay videos were added for ele, necro, ranger, and warrior on the PAX thread. My evening is planned out for me!

Big day for GW old and new

Lots and lots and lots of updates about both GW and GW2. Where do I begin?

Ok, so GW got an epic update that will streamline PvE a great deal. Read about all of the specifics here. Highlights include Embark Beach, 7 hero parties, mercenary heroes, Pre-Searing upgrades, incentives for vanquishing, changes to the UI (including minion UI), and a second chance survivor title.

I’m pretty gosh darn happy about all of that. Especially the stuff that will help me vanquish. I’ve already played around with a full party of heroes and made most of my alts into mercenary heroes. It nearly brought a tear to my eye when I made a party with all of my characters. I’m gonna have fun with that. And I’m going to enjoy using my other characters as heroes for helping progress my other characters. Confused yet? Lemmie ‘splain.

So, PvE from here on out, for everyone playing GW, will be more accommodating. With full hero parties you will have more control over creating a balanced party for any occasion. If you have multiple characters you can use those as mercenary heroes in place of actual heroes (out of necessity or style–your choice). This will make early stages and leveling a bit easier.

Embark beach will be a great way to find other players to do missions. Honestly, this is a godsend given the inevitable dearth of players once GW2 comes out. Hunter discussed this briefly the other day as well. While this update looks and sounds fantastic right now, it will almost be a necessity for players once the sequel hits shelves.

And titles! Vanquishing is one of the best ways to earn the most titles simultaneously. And now there are incentives for vanquishing through Zaishen Vanquishing. Also, they’ve implemented a second-chance (my words) survivor title so those of us who created our main characters early on can get this title on them as well.

Pre-Searing got lots of fun stuff including regular quests and access to HoM. I may go back and make a character to get LDoA afterall.

Alrighty. On to GW2.

THIEF!!!

I’m pretty gosh darn…ok, that’s a tired phrase. How’s about: Woohoo!!!

This morning I heard about the leak and I was sad that the videos were taken down. I scoured the net for info. Five hours later, the ban lifted, I was a happy fan.

So, Thief. Dual pistols. Dual daggers. Dual swords. Shortbow. Stealth (good stealth, not bad stealth). Shadowstep. Thievery. What’s not to love? They’re still the glass cannon of the bunch, but MAN do they have style!

Ok, enough writing. Time to go vanquish some more areas with my hero squadron.

Quick, get behind my Aegis!

The guardian was revealed today, as promised. There is a lot of information about it on a number of other sites and blogs here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here (forgive me if I missed one or two or half-dozen reviews). After a dearth of ooey gooey GW2 info goodness, we are blessed with a new profession and lots of answered questions about it. And still, after reading all of the reviews I could find, I (and I’m sure many of you) still have lots of questions about it.

I’m assuming you’ve read at least one article about the guardian by now. I’m also assuming you know what a Blue Mace Lady (BML) or Blue Mace Dude (BMD) is. If none of this is ringing a bell, please click on any of the links above and get better acquainted with the profession of Logan Thackeray.

Blue Mace Lady

I must say I am impressed by this new profession. There was a lot of discussion leading up to what it would ultimately be, but I like the result. I’ve called it paragon 2.0 and monk 2.0 in the past, but it truly has aspects of several GW professions, including ritualist. I am actually very excited about the Spirit Weapons and how much they function like GW1 spirits. A lot of people are comparing them to rit’s weapon spells, but I honestly see them more as spirits or minions, at least as far as functionality is concerned.

I am also very excited about the crowd control capability of this profession. It functions a lot like a necromancer through strategic use of offensive and defensive spells that frequently do little more than upset a foe’s tactics. Wards are great for this. What can I say, I like a tactical profession.

I’m not sure who won the bet on the unique quality of the guardian. Someone was talking about stances and I’d love to give him/her credit for coming the closest (to my knowledge) of predicting it. Virtues are what separate a guardian from others. I think they are great because they are natural buffs that help with solo play and they are party buffs/boons/etc that do not take up a skill slot. I think we will see that, while on paper (on screen?) these appear to be weak or have long cool downs, but in practice they will be more helpful than we think. It’s like carrying a 10% mod on a weapon in GW. You equip it and it helps you in the background.

I plan on making a charr guardian character.

Overall, I’m happy with this new profession. It has aspects of several GW professions that I have had less experience playing, but it is also a strong melee character in its own right. I like the crowd control ability of this profession and its similarities to the GW ele/necro regarding wards, wells, and symbols. I’m also very excited to explore the two-handed melee combat possibilities and like how much this profession is a cross between melee and caster. It is a nice blend for my taste.

I’m curious about how the monk/paragon/ritualist became the guardian as far as lore is concerned. Perhaps I’ll explore this idea in another post.

Logan Thackeray

This week seems to be the week of Logan Thackeray. For me, I know much more about this character because I just finished Edge of Destiny. For everyone who hasn’t read the book, we learn more about his profession, guardian, today.

I have given some thought to writing a critique of the book or perhaps writing speculation about the guardian profession, but what I write wouldn’t hold a candle to what has already been written within the community. Truly, the bases have been covered and covered well by Hunter, KTR, and GW2Guru.

Instead, I will offer a critique of Logan himself.

THE REST OF THE POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR EDGE OF DESTINY

Logan Thackeray

Logan, as you may know, is one of the heroes of the adventuring group Destiny’s Edge. From what we’ve seen in the videos so far, he is a militaristic man who is devoted to his country and his queen. He wields a sword and shield in the game, but in the book he wields a hammer. He is a commanding officer of the Seraph and is of the guardian profession.

In the book he is more brash and borders on playful. He is an excellent tactician and a patriot, but he is more than willing to find an ally in the time of battle. I felt that the camaraderie and infighting between him and Rytlock really spoke to his personality. I see him, in the book, as a man who fights for his country and for those who are at risk, regardless of what danger he may encounter. He does what is necessary for victory, within reason, and discards the seriousness of a soldier on occasion. I think that this defines him as human. He is a man with values and morals and also flaws.

Preceding the conclusion of the book, when he answers the call of his queen, I began to see a Logan that I do not like. Perhaps it is because I came to enjoy his banter and his slightly chaotic and playful personality, or perhaps it is because I disagree with his decision. It is hard to say. Suffice it to say, I liked Logan more before the conclusion of the book and I’m not sure if I will like him as a character in GW2 based on what I have seen.

I understand his actions, I really do. He made an oath and bond to his queen and she was indeed in dire need. But, as a scout and mercenary, I think he chose poorly. He made a rash decision based on emotion rather than logic (again, he’s human). I truly believe his coming to the queen’s aid was less about duty and more about his feelings for her, as there is clearly romantic interest between the two of them. Actions have consequences and, while he was able to save the queen, his actions still cost him two companions and the opportunity to slay one of the elder dragons. In the grand scheme of things, one slain elder dragon is worth 100 Krytan queens.

Logan the Guardian

I feel betrayed by Logan for his actions, as I’m sure the rest of Destiny’s Edge does. He was rewarded for his actions by the queen by taking up his brother’s sword and his brother’s job, which he scoffed at before. He is a shadow of the Logan I came to love in the book. He is essentially a knight to his queen, but I feel like he has lost a great deal of who he was. I hope he is portrayed as more than simply a high-ranking soldier in service of his queen and I hope that, throughout the game, we will begin to see glimpses of the “old Logan,” or “Hammer Logan” as I’ve started calling him.

I have faith that Logan will be a memorable character in GW2. He is complex and struggles with guilt about his past. He seeks to redeem himself and perhaps make amends for the consequences of his decision. I look forward to getting to know him better and interacting with him in game.

So that’s my 2 coin on Logan Thackeray. I’m angry at him for betraying his group in their time of need and angry at him for letting Glint and Snaff die in vain. I’m angry at him for proving Rytlock right and for being selfish. I am of the opinion that, not only does Logan have to make amends to Destiny’s Edge for his actions, but he also needs to make amends to me. Props to Bob King for getting me this emotionally invested in his characters.

GW2 Necromancer Revealed

Asura Necro Concept Art

So, ANet just released the necromancer info. Most of it was stuff we already gleaned form Gamescom. Additionally, the videos were leaked to Youtube a few days ago, so a lot of people, including me, saw them before the formal release today. Some questions answered:

• The concept art of the asura from the Manifesto Video (then wielding a sword with a blue background) was indeed the necro concept art. This should temper speculation about future professions based on concept art.
• Necros will indeed use staves (we pretty much assumed that) in addition to all of the weapons showcased at Gamescom.
• Marks appear to be some sort of combination of ranger traps and necro wells. They are area targeted and will trigger on their own or by activating the skill again. I like it. They also appear to have both enemy damaging and ally benefiting mechanics, as per the Mark of Blood example. These go great with…
• Fear. Fear is a condition unique to necros. It causes foes to run away from the necromancer, as seen in the doom video. This is great for use in conjunction with area targeted spells/skills such as poison cloud, ranger traps, and fire walls. Just put your foe between you and the trap, cast Doom, and they’ll run away from you right into the trap. Brilliant!
• Life Force. This is the stuff that allows you to use your death shroud. We already knew that you accrue it by being in proximity to dieing foes (a la Soul Reaping from GW1), and we knew that some skills would help you acquire more, but this release says that, more or less, you’ll always have a skill on your bar that will help you to make this green bar go up.

I have to say, after seeing the videos again and in HD, I can honestly say the necromancer is both creepy and menacing. The charr looked downright scary and watching the Bone Minions + Putrid Explosion video presented a very raw character that truly looked and felt like an agent of death and darkness. Minions are minions–hunks of flesh and bone that act as cannon fodder–but watching the little bone minion cower before it exploded really sold me on necromancers being the bad boys of GW.