Drarra
ArenaNet loves their pranks. In celebration of April 1st this year, they made some stylistic changes to the in-game world...
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Showing posts with label GuildWars 2. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GuildWars 2. Show all posts
Apr 5, 2014
Posted in: Mar 29, 2014
Screenshot Saturday: Photos Around Tyria
Welcome back to Screenshot Saturday!
The Photos Around Tyria project will showcase a photo from each zone of the game. My goal is to catch something particularly interesting about each area: this could be an area that is utterly atypical and out of place or something that captures the feel of the area.
This week, we will be starting out in The Grove. I find this to be a breathtaking area, serene as only Maguuma can be.
The Photos Around Tyria project will showcase a photo from each zone of the game. My goal is to catch something particularly interesting about each area: this could be an area that is utterly atypical and out of place or something that captures the feel of the area.
This week, we will be starting out in The Grove. I find this to be a breathtaking area, serene as only Maguuma can be.
Mar 21, 2014
Storytime in the Dungeons
Last weekend, we got together to do an event that has been talked about for a long, long time. The goal: to go through each of the eight dungeons in Guild Wars 2 in order to see the story unfold.
I've done each dungeon in story mode at least once. Like most people, I did them out of order, at various times, and sometimes over multiple play throughs. Our goal was to play them like the story they are. To witness the trouble of Destiny's Edge. Here, in summary, is the story so far:
Our story begins in Ascalon. The Ascalon Catacombs, to be exact. We are assisting Rytlock in finding the former leader of Destiny's Edge, Eir, who has gone in search of the mythical sword Magdaer. Rytlock angers the Ghost of King Adelbern, who calls from assistance from his strongest lieutenants, Master Nente, Kasha Blackblood, Ralena and Vassar. With Rytlock's help, we defeated them and King Adelbern. In the end, we learn that Eir's goal was to find the sword in order to give it to Logan, Rytlock's nemesis, to bind them together as friends once more.
Next, we travel to Caudecus's Manor in Beetletun, outside Divinity's Reach. Logan suspects Caudecus of a plot, and he is concerned for the safety of Queen Jennah and the ambassadors from other races, including former Destiny's Edge member, Zojja. We uncover the plot between Caudecus and Uzolan, destroy his magical golem and eventually rescue Queen Jennah from the Seperatists who have kidnapped her in hopes of destroying the peace between humans and charr.
Next, we head to the Caledon Forest to assist Caithe. She must face Faolain, her former lover, and she has enlisted help from Rytlock and Logan, in hopes of mending their relationship. Rytlock outright refuses to help, and Logan leaves after Caithe jabs him one too many times. We help Caithe to defeat the sylvari Faolain has seduced to the Nightmare Court, and we ultimately help her stop (but not kill) Faolain.
Our next summons takes us to Sorrow's Embrace. Zojja needs our help. She has discovered a former apprentice of Snaff, Kudu, who has perverted his research, and she is determined to stop him. She's asked Caithe for help, and Caithe has convinced Eir to come with her, hoping she can mend the relationship between Eir and Zojja. Here is where we learn the source of the enmity between Logan and Rytlock: at the penultimate battle of Destiny's Edge, Logan left the group in order to protect Queen Jennah, and Rytlock has never forgiven him for the defection. We also learn that Zojja is cruel to Eir because Eir's leadership resulted in the death of Snaff, her father-figure mentor. We learn that the death of Glint was not only a blow to the world, but how it shattered Destiny's Edge. We stop Kudu, who teleports off to... somwehere, and his Iron Forgeman creation.
After our (mostly) successful runs of these four early dungeons, we're planning a follow-up event this weekend. We'll be attempting the last four dungeons in story mode. Check out the event on our G+ community and RSVP, because we'd love to see you there!
I've done each dungeon in story mode at least once. Like most people, I did them out of order, at various times, and sometimes over multiple play throughs. Our goal was to play them like the story they are. To witness the trouble of Destiny's Edge. Here, in summary, is the story so far:
Our story begins in Ascalon. The Ascalon Catacombs, to be exact. We are assisting Rytlock in finding the former leader of Destiny's Edge, Eir, who has gone in search of the mythical sword Magdaer. Rytlock angers the Ghost of King Adelbern, who calls from assistance from his strongest lieutenants, Master Nente, Kasha Blackblood, Ralena and Vassar. With Rytlock's help, we defeated them and King Adelbern. In the end, we learn that Eir's goal was to find the sword in order to give it to Logan, Rytlock's nemesis, to bind them together as friends once more.
Next, we travel to Caudecus's Manor in Beetletun, outside Divinity's Reach. Logan suspects Caudecus of a plot, and he is concerned for the safety of Queen Jennah and the ambassadors from other races, including former Destiny's Edge member, Zojja. We uncover the plot between Caudecus and Uzolan, destroy his magical golem and eventually rescue Queen Jennah from the Seperatists who have kidnapped her in hopes of destroying the peace between humans and charr.
Next, we head to the Caledon Forest to assist Caithe. She must face Faolain, her former lover, and she has enlisted help from Rytlock and Logan, in hopes of mending their relationship. Rytlock outright refuses to help, and Logan leaves after Caithe jabs him one too many times. We help Caithe to defeat the sylvari Faolain has seduced to the Nightmare Court, and we ultimately help her stop (but not kill) Faolain.
Our next summons takes us to Sorrow's Embrace. Zojja needs our help. She has discovered a former apprentice of Snaff, Kudu, who has perverted his research, and she is determined to stop him. She's asked Caithe for help, and Caithe has convinced Eir to come with her, hoping she can mend the relationship between Eir and Zojja. Here is where we learn the source of the enmity between Logan and Rytlock: at the penultimate battle of Destiny's Edge, Logan left the group in order to protect Queen Jennah, and Rytlock has never forgiven him for the defection. We also learn that Zojja is cruel to Eir because Eir's leadership resulted in the death of Snaff, her father-figure mentor. We learn that the death of Glint was not only a blow to the world, but how it shattered Destiny's Edge. We stop Kudu, who teleports off to... somwehere, and his Iron Forgeman creation.
After our (mostly) successful runs of these four early dungeons, we're planning a follow-up event this weekend. We'll be attempting the last four dungeons in story mode. Check out the event on our G+ community and RSVP, because we'd love to see you there!
Mar 20, 2014
Fancy Features Update - Traits
So season 1 of living story is done. Scarlet is dead (woot!). This past patch is mostly the celebration of a successful conclusion (and if you haven't gotten the rewards yet, do so quickly. There's no achievements or anything, just go to the party and get some fancy things at the end).
Since living story is on cooldown, Guild Wars 2 is releasing it's first feature-only patch, and it's a doozy. They're releasing balance enhancements, feature improvements, brand-new systems, and other things. They'll be disclosing information everyday leading up to the patch. Today they announced a lot of stuff about traits.
For instance, to prevent idiots from putting 11 traits on one branch and 14 on another, each trait will now be worth 5 old traits. This will condense the 70 trait points down to 14. As a result, you won't start earning traits until level 30, and will only get a trait point once every few levels.
Also, profession books are no longer a thing. Instead of buying a profession book to unlock the next tier of traits, they're all free, and so are trait refunds! You may now change your build instantly anywhere, like you could for PvP. To celebrate, they're adding 40 new traits in total! However, there's a catch. In Guild Wars 1 and other various RPGs, you would have to explore and progress to find new vendors who would sell you new and unique equipment/skills. The same is true for major traits.
On a single branch, the trait line alternates between minor and major traits. Minor traits are a fixed perk, major traits are swappable depending on the tier and generally have an extra little something special. So you now find the guides who distribute the major traits by participating in WvW, personal story, exploring, story/mini dungeons, etc. If you're too lazy for this, then the recently unemployed profession trainers have been re-employed to sell you the traits... for a price that has yet to be disclosed.
To conclude, this all comes bundled with a complete redesign of the traits page, and yes, it does tell you where and how to unlock the specific traits you want.
Oh, and in case you're wondering, there is a new trait that would further make my necromancer harder to kill, but luckily for everyone in PvP, it's aligned towards a Death Shroud build, which I am not very interested in using regularly. That's all for now, if you want to keep up to date as they announce stuff, check out their blog: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/releases/feature-packs/
Since living story is on cooldown, Guild Wars 2 is releasing it's first feature-only patch, and it's a doozy. They're releasing balance enhancements, feature improvements, brand-new systems, and other things. They'll be disclosing information everyday leading up to the patch. Today they announced a lot of stuff about traits.
For instance, to prevent idiots from putting 11 traits on one branch and 14 on another, each trait will now be worth 5 old traits. This will condense the 70 trait points down to 14. As a result, you won't start earning traits until level 30, and will only get a trait point once every few levels.
Also, profession books are no longer a thing. Instead of buying a profession book to unlock the next tier of traits, they're all free, and so are trait refunds! You may now change your build instantly anywhere, like you could for PvP. To celebrate, they're adding 40 new traits in total! However, there's a catch. In Guild Wars 1 and other various RPGs, you would have to explore and progress to find new vendors who would sell you new and unique equipment/skills. The same is true for major traits.
On a single branch, the trait line alternates between minor and major traits. Minor traits are a fixed perk, major traits are swappable depending on the tier and generally have an extra little something special. So you now find the guides who distribute the major traits by participating in WvW, personal story, exploring, story/mini dungeons, etc. If you're too lazy for this, then the recently unemployed profession trainers have been re-employed to sell you the traits... for a price that has yet to be disclosed.
To conclude, this all comes bundled with a complete redesign of the traits page, and yes, it does tell you where and how to unlock the specific traits you want.
Oh, and in case you're wondering, there is a new trait that would further make my necromancer harder to kill, but luckily for everyone in PvP, it's aligned towards a Death Shroud build, which I am not very interested in using regularly. That's all for now, if you want to keep up to date as they announce stuff, check out their blog: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/releases/feature-packs/
Jan 25, 2014
Screenshot Saturday: Post-Wintersday Edition
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| Wintersday - when Zommoros inhabits a snowglobe and Toy Soldiers march through Lion's Arch. |
Nov 22, 2013
Rock the Nightmare!
Halloween feels so far away now, but we are now following through on the events that occurred prior to the Halloween patch. It all started with a shifty magic wall in Kessex Fields that not too many people noticed due to the festivities going on. Then the spell was broken following the annual Halloween extravaganza, and a giant tower was revealed in the middle of Viathan Lake. When ArenaNet revealed the news, they released a trailer with a different type of music than they usually do. Instead of orchestral and grand, they chose heavy metal. As a result many people disliked the trailer. Since then, ArenaNet has announced a contest for the community to make their own trailer for the tower's update using the same song they did. Prizes include Guild Wars 2 branded steelseries merchandise (mice, headphones, keyboards, etc.), and a grand prize of a Guild Wars 2 themed Sygnus Guitar, which I can only presume is a very high end guitar. The contest ends November 26th! As of right now I've only been able to track down two entrees that weren't complete garbage.
ORIGINAL (Not ArenaNet's channel, this is a copied upload from someone else):
ENTREE 1:
If you were wondering, this video is of various trailers and cutscenes ArenaNet made
that were sped up to better fit the tempo of the song. Lazy concept but works.
ENTREE 2:
Similar design to the previous entrant, but with one major difference, they added actual
footage of musicians playing the song and used strictly the footage from the original trailer.
Much more production and value.
So what do you guys think of this content? Are you going to participate in the contest and/or event?
Here's the page: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/enter-the-guild-wars-2-rock-the-nightmare-music-video-contest/
Here's the page: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/enter-the-guild-wars-2-rock-the-nightmare-music-video-contest/
Nov 2, 2013
Screenshot Saturday: Halloween Edition
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| The Mad King is a towering fella. |
Oct 29, 2013
A Mad Halloween Arena
So, ArenaNet occasionally has gem store sales. A recent sale had the Custom Arena Starter Kits discounted within (what I consider) the impulse buy range. We in the guild have been talking about getting our own PvP arena for awhile now, so the trigger was pulled...
Say hello to the [stfu] arena!
Oct 24, 2013
A Very Guild Wars Halloween: Part 2
It's October, which means the Mad King has returned! But what does this mean for the current Guild Wars 2 universe?
We've seen evidence of his influence throughout the world. We have doors leading into his realm in the Human region of Kryta, as well as mine-able candy corn nodes and pumpkins just waiting to be carved. There's a new story this year, involving the Mad King's son, Bloody Prince Edrick.
Upon entering the Mad King's realm, we have a few options for activities, just like last year:
First, you can enter the maze and join the zerg rushing to kill bosses, mine candy corn and close doors. The candy-crazed mob will overtake your mind until you realize you've finally slain the Grand High Viscount of Candy Corn! You'll want to beware, however, of his sugar-powered attacks. They can down in you one hit!
The Mad King's Clock Tower is just as evil a jumping puzzle as it was last year. Fortunately, they did take into account the difficulty, and now other players show up as wisps on your tower, so your view is no longer blocked by every huge Norn. Despite the difficulty, [stfu] has some members who have met the challenge.
Finally, there's the Lunatic's Inquisition, which was also available last year. You will either be a villager, trying to survive the night, or a ghost, converting the villagers into your own kind.
Some of the achievements from last year, such as pumpkin carving and candy corn eating, have now become daily achievements during the living story. It's nice to break up carving your hundreds of pumpkins into 5 per day! It also limits your binge-candy-corn-eating to 50 at a time.
They've also added some new finishers for PvP and WvWvW, one of which you can get from Halloween events, the other being for sale in the Black Lion Trading Company gem store.
Halloween draws near in Tyria, and the Mad King can't hang around once it's gone. Be sure to take advantage of the festivities while you can, and maybe you'll get your very own candy corn elemental mini pet!
We've seen evidence of his influence throughout the world. We have doors leading into his realm in the Human region of Kryta, as well as mine-able candy corn nodes and pumpkins just waiting to be carved. There's a new story this year, involving the Mad King's son, Bloody Prince Edrick.
Upon entering the Mad King's realm, we have a few options for activities, just like last year:
First, you can enter the maze and join the zerg rushing to kill bosses, mine candy corn and close doors. The candy-crazed mob will overtake your mind until you realize you've finally slain the Grand High Viscount of Candy Corn! You'll want to beware, however, of his sugar-powered attacks. They can down in you one hit!
The Mad King's Clock Tower is just as evil a jumping puzzle as it was last year. Fortunately, they did take into account the difficulty, and now other players show up as wisps on your tower, so your view is no longer blocked by every huge Norn. Despite the difficulty, [stfu] has some members who have met the challenge.
Finally, there's the Lunatic's Inquisition, which was also available last year. You will either be a villager, trying to survive the night, or a ghost, converting the villagers into your own kind.
Some of the achievements from last year, such as pumpkin carving and candy corn eating, have now become daily achievements during the living story. It's nice to break up carving your hundreds of pumpkins into 5 per day! It also limits your binge-candy-corn-eating to 50 at a time.
They've also added some new finishers for PvP and WvWvW, one of which you can get from Halloween events, the other being for sale in the Black Lion Trading Company gem store.
Halloween draws near in Tyria, and the Mad King can't hang around once it's gone. Be sure to take advantage of the festivities while you can, and maybe you'll get your very own candy corn elemental mini pet!
Oct 18, 2013
Ascalonian Catacombs Event
Thanks to some of the updates that ArenaNet have been giving us every two weeks, one of the dungeons has become one of the more difficult dungeons in the entire game. The Twilight Arbor dungeon was updated to become a level 80 dungeon as part of the living story. It came with some Aether Pirates and some killer steam creatures,
Before the developers get another great idea to update other dungeons and make them almost impossible, I've decided to make a series of events that are going to cover all the dungeons. Events covering Story and Explorable modes, once those are complete then most of us will have completed Dungeon Master. With that completed then we will have it before other dungeons are updated with added difficulty.
The first event will be Ascalonian Catacombs. We will do all of the Ascalonian Catacombs, that includes story and all of the explorable paths, depending on the number of people in the event we will divide the parties, if there are eight people then it will be divided into groups of four so that each group only looks for one other person.
Oct 17, 2013
Patch Updates: Blood and Madness
Shortly following the one year anniversary of Guild Wars 2's release comes the first annual event, the Halloween update!
This year the story follows the son of the mad king Bloody Prince Edrick when he awakes from his coffin his father trapped him in for lord knows how long. When he awakens you must throw candy corn at him (his weakness) until he retreats. When I fought him it was possible to kill him with some of my necromancer skills, but doing so would prevent him from retreating, preventing Magister Tassi from giving you the tiny golem relay with the directions on what to do next, so it is strongly advised to NOT kill the Bloody Prince even if you can when you first meet him.
Mad Realm Doors spawn in the regions of Gendarran Fields, Queensdale, and Kessex Hills. Interacting with any random door may throw candy out, spawn monsters for you to fight, or allow you to enter the Mad King's Labyrinth.
Inside the labyrinth map you map warp to the Mad King's Clock Tower, the Lunatic Inquisition, or simply into the labyrinth grounds.
Yes, the Mad King's Clock Tower is back and as hard as it was last year. While the prizes at the end of the puzzle may not be that great, the real reward comes from the sheer satisfaction of finally completing the bloody thing, which I have yet to experience.
Other updates include new Halloween related rewards for various events and better World vs World rewards. New features include combat quality tweaks, trait and tooltip tweaks, a whole slew of class updates and balancing, and the first WvW season, encouraging more activity in your server's battlegrounds. And of course there's a couple things in the Gem Store to get you into the scary feeling.
For more information, visit the official Guild Wars 2 release page: Click Here For Release Page
--Andrew Cyburt (Mystic Thriler)
So many of us had been looking forward to this patch because of either the joy we got out of it last year or because it finally offers those of us who missed out a chance to catch up. Here's the official ArenaNet trailer to get you in the mood.
This year the story follows the son of the mad king Bloody Prince Edrick when he awakes from his coffin his father trapped him in for lord knows how long. When he awakens you must throw candy corn at him (his weakness) until he retreats. When I fought him it was possible to kill him with some of my necromancer skills, but doing so would prevent him from retreating, preventing Magister Tassi from giving you the tiny golem relay with the directions on what to do next, so it is strongly advised to NOT kill the Bloody Prince even if you can when you first meet him.
Mad Realm Doors spawn in the regions of Gendarran Fields, Queensdale, and Kessex Hills. Interacting with any random door may throw candy out, spawn monsters for you to fight, or allow you to enter the Mad King's Labyrinth.
Inside the labyrinth map you map warp to the Mad King's Clock Tower, the Lunatic Inquisition, or simply into the labyrinth grounds.
Yes, the Mad King's Clock Tower is back and as hard as it was last year. While the prizes at the end of the puzzle may not be that great, the real reward comes from the sheer satisfaction of finally completing the bloody thing, which I have yet to experience.
Other updates include new Halloween related rewards for various events and better World vs World rewards. New features include combat quality tweaks, trait and tooltip tweaks, a whole slew of class updates and balancing, and the first WvW season, encouraging more activity in your server's battlegrounds. And of course there's a couple things in the Gem Store to get you into the scary feeling.
For more information, visit the official Guild Wars 2 release page: Click Here For Release Page
--Andrew Cyburt (Mystic Thriler)
Oct 14, 2013
[stfu]’s Secret Places
On Friday night, [stfu] members Ticker Granite and Chronos
Evergreen shared their hidden places with the rest of [stfu]. We leaped, hopped, jumped, and eventually
found ourselves outside or above the generally-accessible map!
![[stfu] surveys Ebonhawke](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuktLdCyTLuwLYvopdxmUWYdnB-_nRb_wYQ5cIGJHbcZxqNQoW2QGIWeUC5o7lSvaXQJd66yIXSdPAnH8yr6PZWcw7w2vn27PtiMXxeioohkJkBRTVBZhjtgZIKInPaQO_FyUOTUXXNIM/w1920-h1080-no/gw159.jpg)
![[stfu] supporting Edgar so he doesn't have to cry](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-uAegtLAMiTg/UljAnAoeXLI/AAAAAAAADKM/tnlWtTqc_0Q/w1920-h1080-no/gw223.jpg)
Afterword, several of us attempted the newest path in the
Twilight Arbor dungeon. We fought,
dodged and applied quick use of our wits, but alas the network upgrades were
our undoing. Fear not, brave reader, for
we shall prevail! If you’re interested
in participating in our victory, please comment and discuss below.
You probably noticed in the above photos that we were all in pink! You should look for other guildies during the course of October with
special dye colors to to raise awareness of October causes. Pink is for breast cancer awareness, and green
is for depression awareness. Show your
awareness of these devastating diseases and join us with ridiculously bright
dye and get the attention of a gamer near (or who just happens to be wandering
past in LA) you!
Oct 11, 2013
The Color Pink and an Event With Spencer
A few notes on October and an upcoming event Spencer is hosting...
Oct 9, 2013
Guild PvP Tournament
The Special Tactics Fighting Unit guild had our first ever guild PvP tournament on September 28, 2013.
