Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
[Editorial] Guild Wars 2: Final Thoughts Before Launch
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Guild Wars 2 is now less than 24 hours until the head start program begins and just a few days before its worldwide release. So many hopes hang on its success. Before all the craziness begins, we want to offer our thoughts about the game. See what you think and then add your ideas to the comments.
It’s been a really fantastic year for MMO gamers so far. I know that there have been rough spots, but on the whole, there have been a lot of excellent games to play this year. But none of them can really compare to what’s on deck for August 28th. World of Warcraft wasn’t my first MMO, but I remember standing in line on opening night to pick up my Collector’s Edition in November of 2004. I remember the feeling during the beta that I was in on one hell of a revolutionary experience. I remember playing that game and feeling like it would break the MMO genre wide open.
Read more of the MMORPG.com staff's Guild Wars 2: Final Thoughts Before Launch.
)
Comments
I'm not blown away by it personally. It doesn't fit my tastes so i can't justify paying 60$ for it right now. If it drops the price, i may pick up later on.
But i hope you guys enjoy yourselves, aswell as the rest of the GW2 community.
BTW, is it just me, or do i have a feeling the mmorpg.com staff as decided on the final score their official review already?I think MikeB nailed it with this part:
"Players don't react with a sense of trepidation when encountering each other in Guild Wars 2. You're never worried someone is going to steal your experience, items, or even resource nodes. MMOs are at their best with great communities, but they have, ironically, always been in their own way on this front."
How many launch days for other games were low level quests impossible because quest mobs would be wiped out by masses of new players? More than I can count! That will never happen in GW2. Can't wait to finaly play this game for real!
If in 1982 we played with the current mentality, we would have burned down all the pac man games since the red ghost was clearly OP. Instead we just got better at the game.
Playing now: Cities: Skyline / Ori and the Blind Forest / Banished
I'd like to see a game, ecspecially an MMO, that goes out of it's way to not be the same old thing get a good score. I'm sick of clones coming out and really think the MMO genre needs some change.
http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/473/feature/6667/Guild-Wars-2-Final-Thoughts-Before-Launch.html
If in 1982 we played with the current mentality, we would have burned down all the pac man games since the red ghost was clearly OP. Instead we just got better at the game.
Same
Try to be excellent to everyone you meet. You never know what someone else has seen or endured.
My Review Manifesto
Follow me on Twitter if you dare.
I agree. Its so refreshing to see someone else fighting something and know that I can go help them out without costing them or myself XP or loot. Same thing with resource nodes. No race to get them!
Hopefully not if their SWTOR launch-scores out of 10 article is anything to go by! Most of them gave that game 8/10's, and the guy who gave it a 6/10 they fired! Lets hope they give GW2 a good solid month or so before they send out the review, you know, let all the hype die down first.
It's possible to get to level cap in GW2 in a few weeks without killing yourself, so I would have thought that doable by MMORPG's review staff.
Try to be excellent to everyone you meet. You never know what someone else has seen or endured.
My Review Manifesto
Follow me on Twitter if you dare.
I agree with all of you, well written.
See you all on Jade Quarry TONIGHT!
Yep, but not for the "predicted" score he wrote of SWTOR. Common misconception. If that were the case, would we have published that review?
And let's stay on topic folks. Final thoughts before tonight's Head Start... GO!
You can PM me or email me at editor at MMORPG.com if you want to talk about other stuff. I'm always around.
Try to be excellent to everyone you meet. You never know what someone else has seen or endured.
My Review Manifesto
Follow me on Twitter if you dare.
what happen to guild wars 2 hamepage pre-order link?
i want it pre-order today!!
can someone help me? where i can pre-order and get Play 3 Days Early!
Thanks
It is great to feel excited for a long long long time - alike I was last obsessed with a a game when WoW beta started and after that - well, demands have increased and therefore minor upgrades like graphics or even adding cutscenes to story don't carry so long since it just feels so gone-through in the end
. I was quite excited about SWTOR but it grew out quite fast but this time, I am nervous, anxious, can't wait to get finally permanently into the world, start enjoying it.
Biggest pros in my eyes are sociality - as stated it is made allowed once more to always participate and help out without fear of exp loses, loot stealing and such then I really look forward minigames. Had a blast with keg brawl so can't wait for others to come - what an excellent way to spend some free time and get a break from "normal" gaming - just as they get that "join as a group" implemented
. Second thing I really liked was wvwvw, 3 factions, seems lovely, felt like a whole new game when storming a castle with supreme force and all of a sudden there comes a 3rd server into play changing the situation completely - lovely. Then depth you get on chars with DPS, tanking and healing combined together on all chars, gotta love it and how fresh even so simple thing as that you have to move constantly in combat feels :d
Anyways, stacking the fridge, trying to get time spent somehow, maybe going to sleep early tonight and wake up early for finally being able log in - can't wait!
You can't now. They stopped pre-purchases for 3 day head start....a few days back(?) now. You can try and pre-order somewhere else for the 1 day headstart or wait for launch on the 28th.
I guess they remove pre-order around these days since they don't have reliable way to provide you code prior the pre-order launch so best you can do is pre-order which gives you 1 day head-start starting on 27th, though not completely sure.
I've been an MMORPG gamer for...well, since 1999. I think it was the Rise of Kunark in the Original Everquest I was playing at the time. Or Scars of Velious was out. I can't remember which. But whenI first started playing like Mike said, there was a sense of awe and wonder. Wide-eyed and wanting to see the world you spawned into.
Fast forward to the release of Guild Wars and the arrival of AreaNet. Guild Wars was the first game that was buy to play. Whodathunkit, right? But it succeeded. Far better than I think AreaNet could have anticipated. But ANet did something no other MMORPG did that I can personally recall. They seperated PvE from PvP. Yes, the skills were named the same, and had the same ideas behind them. But they were seperate. If a change needed to be made to PvP, the PvE side wasn't touched unless something there needed to be fixed. And it worked. REALLY well. And there was not race to the end for epic phat lewtz. To me, ANet held tight to the addage: It's the journey, not the destination that matters. And the stories of Guild Wars were awesome. Deep, in-depth and meant something. From Pre-Searing, to Post-Searing. From Cantha to Elona. To the Far Shiverpeaks. The story carried me constantly wondering: Oh man, what's going to happen next?! And it was good.
Fast forward again to today, or a few weeks prior to today. I played in the last Beta Weekend. I played my Norn and saw the statue of Jora on one of my missions. And my mind immediately went back to questing with her in Guild Wars. Blood washes Blood. I saw a Charr and immediately ran to the portals...*cough* Ok, I actaully stumbled upon the portals by accident. But still. I explored and was just amazed at the size of the world. Anticipation ran through me as I wondered: "Will I be able to get back? How far will I have to go to get back?" Adventure awaited! I didn't care if I could get back. I was going to explore the world. I stepped into the Charr homeland, and saw the ruins of Rin. I heard the Charr talking about it. And I looked for a way to see what Rin looked like now. But I did see the Wall of Old Ascalon and remember my time Post Searing looking at the ruins of the once great city.
All of this that was just how I felt playing Guild Wars 2. I don't know another game that has done that for me. And ANet are stinkers. Seeing all that made me go back and play MORE GUILD WARS! And I think that is something that is great. To want to go back and play Guild Wars again after playing Guild Wars 2. To me, they don't seem to want to take away from their first game. But to enhance it by enticing me to play it more to maybe see something I might have missed. I don't know many MMO developers that have done that.
I, for one, can't wait for tonight. Or tomorrow, which ever I'm awake for XD
LONG LIVE AREANET AND THE GUILD WARS FRANCHISE!
Don't like PvP? Well, stay away....
Is still my experience with GW2's betas..
Oh Thanks
when i first heard of GW2 i was lookign for a new gaming experience. I was dwiddling less and less in Cataclism-and legue of ledgends was holding me over till the release of diablo3.
wheni researched and saw their first game' GW1'= i was like- oh no, another 'wow' clone-ill pass.
but it was mmorpg's articles and reviews that exposed me to GW2 new gaming experiences to come!-no lie.
now as i casually attended beta weekends in gw2 i knowing this was something totally different from past mmos ive played- staying calm and waiting for the other ball to drop(which hasnt) iam lookign forward for the offical release tonight! to dive deep into what will be my new sandbox for a while!
i havent been this excited about an mmo since i first discovered eve-online=my first ever mmo experience!
thanks mmorpg & Anet!
Great article and i fully relate to each of the staffs personal commentary..
This has been a stellar year for gamers and perhaps now after anet fully succeeds the suits will rethink things and insist the devs design games based more on what their fanbase wants and needs instead of trying to tit for tat clone the most profitable one..
Playing GW2..