Guild Wars 2 Beta this weekend (17th - 19th Feb)

[squirrelfanatic]

Since it hasn't been mentioned on the frontpage I thought I'll post this here. There is a limited Guild Wars 2 beta taking place this weekend. Probably there won't be many people around here that take part in it (but surely the RPS staff got at least one invite, right?), but hopefully there will be some new insights and new information about the state of the game next week.

Personally, I feel somewhere between hyped and indifferent about the release of the game, so I'll settle with looking forward to it with optimistic interest.

[apricotsoup]

It was said in the last GW2 pvp article that alec was installing it.

Totalbiscuit also has his team recording footage whilst he's away at some award thingy so there should be a good bit of coverage from there as well for the more video inclined.

I personally have unfortunately gained such high hopes that I'll be amazed if it's as good as my stupid expectations have gotten.

[DevinSmoth]

I personally have unfortunately gained such high hopes that I'll be amazed if it's as good as my stupid expectations have gotten.

This is kinda where I am. Not to mention the fact that I really haven't been much into MMOs lately... and I'm not really sure that this is even on my tableau of purchase possibilities this year.

[trjp]

I think the problem with GW2 is that they've been teasing and showing off stuff for far, far too long.

They're not Blizzard and this isn't the era of 'print news' anymore - when you show something off you should be prepared to tell people when they can play it - and that shouldn't be months and years off because we aren't patient people.

GW2 may well be amazing - it's a competitive marketplace but the original was a great game and if they can manage to build on that they'll have another great game Im sure.

I'm way, way past tired of hearing about it tho - just bloody release it.

[squirrelfanatic]

I think the problem with GW2 is that they've been teasing and showing off stuff for far, far too long.

Agreed, the news keep dripping in drop by drop which makes the waiting a very conscious process. However, development of quality games takes a lot of time and seeing things from Arenanet's perspective, it appears as a sensible decision to sustain the interest in your growing product.

They're not Blizzard and this isn't the era of 'print news' anymore - when you show something off you should be prepared to tell people when they can play it - and that shouldn't be months and years off because we aren't patient people.

As I said above, development takes time, especially if the result is supposed to be a contender in a very competitive market environment. Nothing can be done about that, so why not go ahead and keep people informed about what you are doing? This way, the gaming audience is aware of the ongoing process and the dedication that is put into the project.

I think it would have been a big fault to hold back the news and information about the upcoming title. At the same time, making promises about release dates and such is very risky, especially in the case of such an enormous project as a high quality MMO.

Concerning the Blizzard reference, well, Arenanet surely has a different approach to things than them. As an example, the player community was included a lot more into the making of the game than it was the case for any Blizzard title (if you don't count in the SC beta testing phase, which obviously was very close to the release of the game). This way, they did not have to solely rely on a history of huge successful titles to get people interested from the get-go.

... just bloody release it.

Wholeheartedly agreed.

[Shane]

As per the official blog another phase of beta testing will be announced next week, let's hope that one's open.

[Dominic Tarason]

It's not like Arenanet have just been teasing the game and drip-feeding screenshots at us. At trade-shows for the past year and a half, they've let hundreds of people play the game quite extensively, and record dozens of hours of gameplay footage.

The thing that surprises me the most is that I've only heard glowing praise from those lucky enough to try it. These aren't restricted press demos running under an NDA - these are random jerks from the internet playing an MMO on a show-floor and finding that it's a genuinely good game.

[squirrelfanatic]

It's not like Arenanet have just been teasing the game and drip-feeding screenshots at us. At trade-shows for the past year and a half, they've let hundreds of people play the game quite extensively, and record dozens of hours of gameplay footage.

That's true. I shouldn't have talked about "dripping drops", it's more like gushing refreshing splashes of new content. However, this process has been going on for a long time before the first playable version of the game was shown at a trade-show.

[trjp]

They started a formal 'introduction' process for GW2 over a year ago - telling us about the races and classes and setting and all that jazz - and to my mind, doing that over a year before you're going to release it is wrong-headed.

It kicked off a lot of interest but no amount of teaser trailers and show visits will sustain that - I reckon we've reached the point where a lot of people have switched-off/forgotten about it and that means their efforts were a waste (or quite possibly even detrimental to their aim).

The hardcore are still keen - but they would have been keen without all the effort they threw at it last year and they'd have been better-off introducing the game now where they could have built up interest a more realistic time before release.

I'm pretty sure they're running late anyway - they muttered about betas last year and got nowhere near that so it's the usual case of the mouth running ahead of the trousers - right now tho, the only thing I and a lot of other people want is a release date.

[dan.]

They're not Blizzard . . .

Well, some of them were. :p

[Screwie]

Well, the footage from the weekend has started appearing, and has been aggregated here on the GW2 Guru forums.

If you can't be arsed with all that though, the Yogscast GW2 footage at least is worth watching for a few laughs. 4 parts so far:
1 2 3 4

[squirrelfanatic]

Screwie, thanks for the links. It really looks awesome but I am afraid that I might spoil some great moments if I look through all of this (the usual problem with huge announcements I guess). The only shame is that I won't have as much time playing it as I had for GW1 during my studies, which really was an amazing experience.

[Flint]

All the features make this sound really amazing and possibly something that could give me that new MMO experience I've been somewhat yearning for ever since WoW became wonky for me, but I can't help but feel rather iffy about approaching the title thanks to a certain ex-RPS community member and his brainwashed fanaticism over this that left a bad taste in my mouth regarding the title.

[squirrelfanatic]

Flint, it would be a shame if you let that stuff get into your way, really. :) Since I have never played WoW I can't comment on that, but playing GW1 as my first MMO was one of the best gaming experiences I have ever had, even if - or maybe because - I played it pretty much as single player game, with a tiny bit of cooperation with other players from time to time, taking it all slowly and exploring the game at my own pace.

The whole game design and art style is enough for me to give the sequel a try.

[Flint]

Yeah, it's the focus on single-player element that's really important to me. My love for WoW started to wane away when they began to mess around with its singleplayer content in a really awkward way. I know it's a silly thing to ask from a MMO but there's something amazing in sharing a massive world with countless other living, breathing players even if you're doing your own thing all time; that even if you explore the world alone, you're not alone in the world. All I need is some more info on the levelling system and the world itself and, well, that's what all this beta footage and info is for; will have to shift through the previews at some point.

If a free trial of any kind ever pops up, I'm more than willing to give it a try.

[Dominic Tarason]

Over the past couple of days, a metric arseload of gameplay videos have come out. The players all seem to be saying the same thing: Bloody hell, this game is great.

There's also been quite a few extensive written previews, some after 20-30 hours of hands-on experience. Same story: Even in beta, and still inaccessible to the greater public, this game is really, really good.

If it looks good, it sounds good, everyone who has played it says it's good, and there's absolutely no indication it would be anything other than good aside from a vague sense of paranoia? Well, it's probably good.

It also looks a helluva lot more polished even in closed beta than STWOR looked at launch.

[squirrelfanatic]

After having watched the first two of the Yogscast videos linked by Screwie, I feel PUMPED for the game. Well mostly. It all seems too good to be true. Already, I find myself worrying that the game might get dominated from the get-go by guilds comprised of people playing 24/7. I'll need to find a way to shield me from spoilers and people telling me how awesome the content around the next three corners ahead of me will be. Quick, where is my tinfoil hat?

[Dominic Tarason]

The guilds themselves will probably get the lions share of the glory in the world-vs-world stuff (although there's nothing stopping you from tagging along with them - parties in GW2 are a formality and a communication/organizational aid, but never required), but I don't see how it'd affect PvE much. If there's more people stomping around, difficulty scales up.

The actual guild system of the game sounds pretty great, actually. Each guild is effectively a multi-stat entity with different ratings for PvE success, arena success, WvW glories, etc, and social work. Guilds can even spend resources on stuff like throwing a city-wide party, paying for drinks for a whole town in-game.

It sounds too good to be true, but it's all there and folks have laid eyes on it already. Guess that long development cycle has paid off.

[squirrelfanatic]

...but I don't see how it'd affect PvE much. If there's more people stomping around, difficulty scales up.

This is another point I am not sure about whether to like or not. In theory, it's a great idea but I fear that it might promote separation of players. Internet people are known for being really bad at cooperating in a coordinated manner. So when more people join in to a fight that could have been handled by a single player (or a coordinated duo of friends) it might quickly get out of hand.

[dan.]

Man, I really need to finish Winds Of Change and fill out the rest of my Hall Of Monuments.