GW2 Saucecast!

In Episode 3 of the GW2 Saucecast, we discuss an interesting article comparing SWToR to GW2, specifically in how they stack up against each other in the area of single-player story line.

Join us in welcoming our newest host, Kysif, and also in making fun of Screwtape for his insane dedication to this podcast.  Have a listen and find out why...

ENJOY!

 

Information.......Overload.........

The Beta weekend is over, and with the ending comes a beautiful beginning.  The floodgates have been opened again, and we are overtaken with a plethora of news.  Rather than re-hash and re-post everything out there on the web, I will point you to the best GW2 site on the net.  These guys have done an incredible job compiling the best of the best articles out there currently, and even added some great posts of their own.

GuildWarsInsider.com.

Enjoy.

ArenaNet Blog: Microtransactions

I like chocolate.  And monies.

Mike O'Brien is at it again with the latest ArenaNet blog post.  To most GW players, this information is nothing new.  This time around, Guild Wars 2 microtransactions will be in the game from day one.  Head over to the official ArenaNet Blog for the full article.

Q&A with Jon Peters

We covered this in our first Saucecast, but in case you didn't listen to it yet, MMORPG.com has partnered with Guild Wars 2 for a live Q&A with ArenaNet's Jon Peters at 1 p.m. EST.  They are going to cover professions and traits.  Head over to MMORPG.com for more info!

Forbes Interviews Mike O'brien

Forbes posted an article yesterday where they interviewed Mike O'brien. Since this was a talk more geared to an investor oriented reader base, we didn't get a lot of mechanics or flashy reveals.  However, we did get reiteration of ArenaNet's commitment to excellence and ingenuity.

Thanks to guildwarsinsider.com for the heads up.

GW2 Collector's Edition & System Reqs

Heads up!  Guildwars2.com and Amazon just posted pre-order info for GW2.

- Pre-Order Date: April 10th
 (get those tax returns in now and put your cash towards the gift that'll keep on giving)
- 3 Flavors: Digital, Digital Deluxe and Collector's
- Prices as we know them:
     - Digital: $59.99 (Amazon)
     - Digital Deluxe: $79.99
     - Collector's Edition: $149.99 MSRP (GW2 Site)
- Pre-Order gets you guaranteed beta event access
- System Requirements:

* Due to potential changes, system requirements may change over time, and you may be required to
upgrade your current system (or obtain a new system) to continue to play the game.

- Windows® XP Service Pack 2 or better
- Intel® Core™ 2 Duo 2.0 GHz, Core i3, AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 or better
- NVIDIA® GeForce® 7800, ATI Radeon™ X1800, Intel HD 3000 or better (256MB of video RAM    

  and shader model 3.0 or better) 

- 25 GB available HDD space
- Broadband Internet connection
- Keyboard and mouse

WOOT!  Finally we get some idea of the minimum reqs.  Looks like ArenaNet is really trying to keep the game accessible to as many people as possible.  Can't wait to place my order.

One step closer to a release date!

Make It So: GW2 Design Manifesto Part 3

If you haven't been following Make It So, I recommend going back and reading GW2 Design Manifesto Part 1, and GW2 Design Manifesto Part 2.  It will help today's post make more sense when read in context of the other two parts.  We start today off with the title of the next section in the Manifesto:

It's time to make MMORPG's more social.

How can MMORPG's be more social?  Aren't these real people around us playing the game at the same time we are?  Isn't this tank a real person? You know, the one that has to stand and do nothing the entire time, then flip out when he dies because he decided to stand in the big black circle labeled death?

When ArenaNet says things like "time to make MMORPG's more social", or ''how can we do ____ better?", what they really are saying is "This is how we are making Guild Wars 2 more awesome".

Click past the break to see how GW2 is taking the social aspect of MMO's to the next level.

Make It So: GW2 Design Manifesto

Click the pic above, or here to read the original GW2 Design Manifesto post.

I made a rhyme (accidentally on purpose)!

I have been excited to write on this topic since I started the Make it So series.  It is awesome how you can read something almost 2 years old, and have it be as exciting to read today as it was then.  This post will most likely be split into 2 or 3 parts, depending on how much we can get through in today's edition of Make it So.

If you've been following Make it So, you'll notice that we're going to be jumping a few months into 2010.  Up through March 2010, major news consisted of an interview on lore, as well as a short post detailing development of races and professions.

In April of 2010, Mike O'Brien posted the Guild Wars 2 Design Manifesto.  As far as I am concerned, this article is one of the best postings on the ArenaNet blog.  It is blunt, honest, and blatantly calls out current MMO design.  When I first read this, I was overjoyed that someone in the gaming community finally understood what players really wanted from playing their favorite MMO.  Not only does ArenaNet understand what players want in an MMO, they also have come up with fresh new ideas that are going to shape the MMO culture for years to come.

Click past the break and join in as we discuss the Manifesto.

Make It So: Number 1

Original Guild Wars 2/Eye of the North Press Release
Make It So is our first series, chronicling the history of Guild Wars 2.

March 27, 2007.  NCSoft and Arenanet dropped two huge bombshell announcements for Guild Wars.

The first being that they were working on a sequel to Guild Wars, implementing some key features like a persistent world, as well as still holding to the no subscription fee business model.

The second was that they were working on the first true expansion for Guild Wars.  Eye of the North would require players to own one of the three original campaigns (Prophecies, Factions, Nightfall) and would sport content for level 20 players only.
     For more info on Eye of the North, click here.

The announcement for GW2 came as a shock to some, considering that Guild Wars was only two years old.  Rarely in the MMO scene do sequels outshine their predecessors.  I'll admit, with the lack of news over the months after this announcement,  myself, and friends that played Guild Wars were also a bit nervous.  How would gameplay change with a persistent world?  Would Eye of the North be a worthy release considering that we had received 3 full campaigns prior?

With the jitters also came a sense of excitement.  We already knew the quality work Arenanet could produce, and immediately set high hopes for what was to come.

And so began the waiting...the waiting for any tidbit of news...and little did we know how much waiting we would do.

Our goal with Make it So is to educate those new to Guild Wars 2, with a basic timeline of major news announcements.