By Quintin Smith on November 19th, 2010 at 2:38 pm.
Have you HEARD? ArenaNet’s started releasing free content updates for Guild Wars under the title of Guild Wars Beyond, updates that are gently guiding the world through the events preceding Guild Wars 2.
The second of these updates, Hearts of the North, landed yesterday. It tells the story of the romantic and legal union of “the greatest heroes of Ascalon, Gwen and Keiran Thackeray” and even ends in a ceremony and “festivities”. Full details can be browsed on the official site, including info on all the accompanying pay-for tuxedos and dresses. £5 gets you a tux, dress or ladytux, and, bizarrely, £7 allows you to dress up in the same clothes as the bride and groom themselves. Now, I have all the social intelligence of a wounded badger, but surely that’s a faux pas.
19/11/2010 at 14:52 WiPa says:
FIVE POUNDS?
19/11/2010 at 14:55 Dominic White says:
All the gameplay stuff is free. The fancy dress-up items are optional.
19/11/2010 at 15:07 Wilson says:
Surely it’s still a lot to pay for one item of formal clothing though? Good for them on the free content though.
19/11/2010 at 15:49 Dominic White says:
It’s basically how free-to-play stuff keeps afloat. The people who just want to play, can, and the people who want to play fancy dress-up and stand out from the crowd get to pay for their vanity.
See TF2′s hats. Expect GW2 to have a broad range of expensive vanity items available for sale. I reckon it’s a far nicer way of paying server costs than making everyone pay a flat $15 a month, whether you play for one hour or a hundred.
19/11/2010 at 20:00 Nick says:
They only just introduced costumes recently, previously they kept afloat by selling copies of the game for years. Then they added some extra stuff like skill unlock packs for PvP (you can get them in game fairly easily but a complete set takes a little time) and character slots (you already have quite a few) and minor stuff like that. Now costumes.
20/11/2010 at 12:45 BAReFOOt says:
So basically it’s natural selection. The idiots who would pay £5-7 for a bit of worthless data which will be gone again soon, shall be punished by paying those £5-7. Which then is missing in their pockets, when they have to win the run against me in evolution.
Sounds nice! I like it!
These days, with all the “Award the biggest failures of our society the most” that they call “being social”, this may save us from becoming an Idiocracy for a few more days…
19/11/2010 at 14:58 Jim Reaper says:
How much to just turn up & raid the bar?
19/11/2010 at 15:01 Urthman says:
surely that’s a faux pas.
In a world where the groom can wear that coat, that hat, and especially, that soul patch on his chin without the bride kicking his ass, who knows what the rules of etiquette are?
19/11/2010 at 15:09 Quintin Smith says:
It is funny to see the fantasy genre’s current obsession with belt buckles doesn’t stop at formal wear.
19/11/2010 at 15:39 Hypatian says:
Or belts, apparently. Shoulder buckles? Really?
19/11/2010 at 15:41 dundee says:
Even her garter strap had a buckle on it!
19/11/2010 at 16:56 Berzee says:
I wrote a blindingly white Top Hat at my Wedding, but even I might stop at Shoulder Buckles…if ever I ever thought of Them…which I never did, because they’re Too Too Fantastic.
20/11/2010 at 01:43 MadTinkerer says:
Final Fantasy XII is an awesome game. The entire world looks as if they hired the Joker as a fashion consultant (including one major supporting character who is a badass pirate who wears pink trousers… and he isn’t gay), but it’s an awesome game. I’m mentioning this, because compared to FF12, that’s a pretty conservative number of belt buckles right there.
19/11/2010 at 16:27 qrter says:
Keiran Gillen?
19/11/2010 at 17:58 Rinox says:
Are you saying Kieron is tacky?
19/11/2010 at 23:51 qrter says:
I’m saying he’s trying to sell us his clothes, for some reason.
19/11/2010 at 17:52 seras says:
I’m a bit puzzled at this, is there really a market for new vanity items this late in the game’s lifecycle?
for example, even though the Halloween hats were quite awesome this year, barely anyone in our alliance bothered to get them and they’re FREE.
granted, that formal dress is pretty.
19/11/2010 at 20:01 Nick says:
Judging by the number of people who still play and who run around in the various paid for costumes, yes.
19/11/2010 at 18:01 Dexter says:
The lady in the picture looks pretty.
19/11/2010 at 18:02 Dexter says:
She also looks like she’s touching something of his off camera that she probably shouldn’t when in public.
21/11/2010 at 12:20 Saiko Kila says:
That would be his wallet. Actually, women shouldn’t touch these even when NOT in public.
19/11/2010 at 18:52 fallingmagpie says:
The Sims: Guild Wars.
19/11/2010 at 19:19 Pijama says:
HA HA DISREGARD THIS COMMENT, WRONG POST
20/11/2010 at 03:04 Wedge says:
Boooo, they sell a female tux option, but no choice of a dress for male characters!
20/11/2010 at 16:08 sender says:
If they did 2 out of 3 male characters would wear it. If Ultima Online taught us anything, it’s that the covert theme of all virtual worlds is transvestitism.
20/11/2010 at 13:46 Fatbubba says:
Played the new stuff from the update. It basically plays like the Bonus Mission Pack released a year or two ago. You take on the role of Kieran during some quests and you get certain skills to use.
I find it a refreshing diversion from the normal gameplay. It can be challenging at times, but never becomes really tedious. Next stop is the Factions campaign for a future Guildwars Beyond update. Looking forward to it!
20/11/2010 at 16:12 sender says:
I’d just like to add… “Hearts of the North”? Jesus fucking Christ on a bendy bus. And what do you want to bet there are going to be a series of lame gofer quests to producre the necessary effects for the ceremony? Because being put-upon support personnel at a wedding is such a joyous experience in real life that humans are compelled to simulate it.