Showing posts with label Guild Wars 2. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guild Wars 2. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Guild Wars 2 Fourth Anniversary Celebration

August 28 is the anniversary of Guild Wars 2, and we’d love to celebrate four years of playing, adventuring, and exploring alongside the fans. Whether you’re saving the world from the perils it faces or helping build the community, there is no Tyria without you!

Throughout the month, we’ll be sharing some of our favorite moments on social media—from launch to the present—and we want to see and share yours, too. Do you have screenshots, videos, and memories of your time in Tyria? Tag them with #GW2BDay on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram!

On September 2, we’ll host a PAX West Community Event where fans can hang out with the developers for a night of food and fun here in Seattle. We’ve held similar events in previous years, and we’re always happy to have a chance to meet and make friends with members of the Guild Wars 2 community. To learn more about the event and how you can get a pass, please see this forum thread.

Whether you’re able to join us for the community event or not, don’t miss the celebratory livestream on August 26, where we’ll look back at four years of Guild Wars 2 and the contributions from the best online community.

Thank you for making Tyria your home, and we look forward to many more years of fun and adventures with you!

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Guild Wars 2: Living World Season 3 Steps Out of the Shadows

Guild Wars 2: Living World Season 3 Steps Out of the Shadows 

The first episode of Living World Season 3 is here! Experience a new chapter of Guild Wars 2′s story, explore the wild Chaos Isles, survive a ghost ship’s vengeance, and enjoy new gameplay features and quality-of-life updates.

Out of the Shadows

In the aftermath of Mordremoth’s death, the Pact Commander and their allies celebrate their victories—and mourn their losses. But as an old threat emerges into the light, what comes next will cast doubt on everything Tyria’s heroes think they know.



 

 


Content Updates

New Fractal: Chaos Isles

The Fractals of the Mists are reawakening, and Dessa’s readings are off the charts! She isn’t sure what’s causing the surge, but a new and strange fractal has appeared, and she needs test subj—er, brave adventurers to help her investigate this anomalous landscape.



New PvP Map: Revenge of the Capricorn

Form up and scrabble for territory in this new competitive map. But keep a lookout for the dread ghost clipper, the Capricorn—she’s returned with guns ablaze and takes neither sides nor prisoners.

And More

PvP Updates and UI Improvements

We’ve got numerous updates for structured Player vs. Player in store, including team rollover, markers for quick communication, standard player models in unranked, and the ability to queue for PvP matches outside of the Mists.

Fractals of the Mists Polish

The Mists have shifted, bringing pacing and gameplay adjustments to the Snowblind and Swampland fractals.

Skills and Balance Updates

This update contains adjustments to professions and their skills, weapons, and traits to keep gameplay fresh and exciting.

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/releases/july-26-2016/ 

Sunday, May 1, 2016

Best Free to Play MMO 2016

So 2016 is nearing the halfway mark and there have been only a handful of MMORPGs released this year that are free to play. So compiling what is available The Salamander is recommending these F2P MMOs for their solid gameplay and generous Free to play system. Here they are in no particular order:

Aion


There is one thing I miss in many games and it is something that Aion wants to give me. The ability to soar, to fly free of the bounds of silly gravity. This year the Winds of Fate have bouyed up players and brought two new zones for people to romp around in. Atreia has been with us for a few years but none of its beauty or grace has been lost in that time.

 Echo of Soul

Though it shut down in several countries in Asia, this year saw the western launch of Echo of Soul. Since launching they’ve introduced one new class, two dungeons, and started a PvP season which will continue until March 2016.

Guild Wars 2 

Since January we’ve been hearing all about the Heart of Thorns expansion for Guild Wars 2.  Something that probably doesn’t get as much fanfare but definitely should get more notice is the fact that the base game of Guild Wars 2 went from a buy to play model to free to play. There’s no longer any cost between you and the world of Tyria. 

ASTA 

Dubbed the Asian World of Warcraft. This Free to Play game is actually a very solid game. It is a more traditional MMORPG with tab-targeting, Each race has their own starting area, classic trinity play. Great soundtrack, CryEngine 3 graphics, good dungeons and mounts and great PvP systems. The only knock on the game is hardly anyone is playing it. The Salamander has been playing this since November and I highly recommend it if you like WOW or a more traditional MMO.

Path of Exile

As an action role playing game, Path of Exile is rather unique on this list. We could add in Devilian but that would hardly be fair as it’s only just out. That and Path of Exile doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to a fight. If ARPGs are your thing and you like the idea of a tough world out to do it’s damndest to break you, well the Path is right there.

Rift 

RIFT has been free for a while now but it hasn’t been idle. This year saw the release of RIFT 3.4 Into The Wilds. The strenght of the Soul system in RIFT has always meant that any of the four callings could in a pinch fufill any of the standard roles you’d expect. Tanking Mages and healing Warriors are admittedly a little odd, Trion has also brought the Primalist out to play on Telara. If you’ve never played, there is still something just so… inspiring about coming out of the tutorial and watching the skies tear open with a planar invasion. Be sure to give it a look.

SWTOR 

When the MMOGames team was at Gamescom there was a question put to the Bioware team that was dealing with the buildup for Star Wars: The Old Republic and in particular the then upcoming Knights Of The Fallen Empire update. The question was simply, how is it Bioware could in four minutes make us care more about a character than any of the three prequel movies could about anything. Simply put, Bioware are masters of story and the Knights of the Fallen Empire is their return to form for players out for that sort of experience.

TERA 

TERA is undergoing a metamorphosis or at least that is how it seems. This year has seen more than a few updates to Aborea. Notably this year the Gunner came blasting onto the scene with the Brawler all but upon us as well. Mayhem has never been hard to find in TERA but now there is more motion to go with it.This game has seen a massive influx of players since moving onto Steam. 

Blade and Soul 

Blade and Soul took it's sweet time coming West but now that it is here we are glad it is. The game is beautiful and beyond that has just about the best action combat found in an MMO.(Sorry TERA) The questing and non combat activities are not quite up to it's competition but the Dungeons and Combat alone make this one to play regardless.

EQ2 

Though a bit more restricting than some on this list for free players. If you buy one expansion pack you get every other expansion pack that came before it. The sheer amount of content to be had in EQ2 is almost unmatched in the genre. This is a game that you can lose weeks in not just hours.From Questing, to Crafting, to Decorating your house there is always something to do. After all these years it still has a healthy population and a massive amount of content. 

So there you have it. SalamanderHam's list of the best F2P MMOs out right now. This list will change as more games come to market. I am playing the Korean Bless Online right now and once it comes West (Which is confirmed!) We shall see if it launches Free to Play or not. 


Saturday, July 5, 2014

Guild Wars 2 - Season 2

 GUILD 2 -SEASON 2 DETAILS




  ArenaNet’s Associate Game Director Steven Waller and Studio Design Director Chris Whiteside walked us through a tiny bit of the new Season content, which builds and feeds back on Season 1’s story.  In the game, you’ll be alerted of some strangeness in the Brisban Wildlands, and will come across these weird vine things that have been encroaching upon the human territory.  You’ll meet up with a Seraph outpost that is guarding a portal to a new area, and learn that some new threat has taken out a Zephyr ship that was participating in the Festival of the Four Winds.






    The new area beyond the portal is called Dry Top, a region referenced in the original Guild Wars.  It’s an open world area similar to the other locales in Guild Wars 2, with soloable story instances that scale with your party size.  There’s a sense of verticality in the way that Dry Top’s map has been designed, and a shifting sandstorm will affect your visibility and act as a type of event that determines different objectives and rewards.  As you progress through the story, you’ll find out that (spoilers) the Zephyr leader is on the run, a saboteur is chasing after him, and you’re the man/woman/asura/charr/sylvari/norn to figure out what’s going on.
Dry Top is comparable in size to Southsun and synergizes the open world with Guild Wars 2’s story, aiming to address some pacing concerns with the previous Season’s content.  Apparently, the ArenaNet team has been working with people in other media industries to understand how to better make superstory arcs, interrelated Seasons, appealing characters, and other features that are common to good storytelling in television, films, and other forms of entertainment.  Additionally, Seasonal achievements will now unlock when you complete an episode rather than being the driving force of how you go about completing Living Story content.  You’ll get rewards upon finishing the episode for the first time, and can then go about tackling the achievements and experiencing the content with a different focus.
I’m a big fan of Guild Wars 2 and the direction that ArenaNet has taken with its Living Story content.  I know there have been some gripes about the lack of replayability and overdependence on achievements in Season 1, and while neither of those things have bothered me a jot, it does seem like the developers are seeking to address them directly with Season 2.  Starting today, you can jump in and see for yourselves - be sure to let us know what you think!