Edit in response to a few of the below comments: Just to clear something up - I don't feel that anyone's comments or responses to what happened the other day were in any way disproportionate or inpatient. This post is in response to my own actions and to warn against becoming the type of community which almost constantly says "this game/community was good before [insert timeframe here]" which is what I see a lot in gaming forums for other games etc. I think that considering the chaos which erupted last week, people responded in a measured and mature manner.
Consolegate (as I wholeheartedly hope it comes to be known) was a telling event for the Guild Wars 2 community. I don't think I'm being too presumptive to say that those of us who have followed the game for the past few years and watched the community grow from the dregs of those of us left over from the dwindling GW1 community to the bustling metropolis of bloggers, news sites, youtubers and great hordes of forum-dwellers are at once ecstatic and terrified of what our humble little posse has become.
One of the downsides of the long development process coupled with ANet's free release of information is that a fervour has built up around this game like no other I've ever known. Players can easily get overexcited; I've touched on the subject of over zealous fans in the past on here before (and felt the backlash as a result). One misinterpreted comment can be picked up by over-exuberant individuals and sites hoping to get the next big scoop first, and the misinterpretation is perpetuated till the whole of the community is in a frenzy of excitement, anger and confusion.
One lesson I would preach would be patience on both parts. Easily excited fans need to wait for more info before jumping to conclusions (and so do a few of the news sites). But the perhaps more restrained among us also need to be patient with the others: I felt guilty for deriding fellow fans who (though misguided) were only being excited about the game they love.
I love the guildwars community because we are warm, welcoming and fun. And events like this can lead to a community becoming jaded. I've always believed the whole "this game/community ain't what it used to be" road is a dangerous one to go down. I hope that in four years, this group of fans will still be as friendly and accepting as it is now.
ps. I've chosen not to go into any of the content which was released yesterday - GuildMag's aggregation page is the place to be for the new info. Go go go!
Showing posts with label Community. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Community. Show all posts
Tuesday, 21 February 2012
Sunday, 13 February 2011
Tarot by Saranna and other ARG News
Saranna is a fortune teller, she reads Tarot cards in order to tell a person's future. In fact, she offers your first reading for free, so feel free to contact her for your own mystical message - mine essentially said "don't be a dick, there's more to life than work". Well, not exactly that, but similar!
Anyway, Saranna tells us that she recently acquired a new client - David. Unfortunately, David is searching for his missing wife but when he is pressed about Saranna's interpretation that he had a previous wife; he leaves. Later, Saranna receives letters from David explaining some very strange shinanigans:
For now, it feels as if Tarot by Saranna is just getting off the ground, we haven't had a lot to solve other than random cryptic messages so far and I'm hoping that the PM will pick it up with things to solve asap....Over one hundred years ago, I lived another life in another part of the world. I was an arrogant young man and I fell in love with a woman from a foreign land. However, our relationship ended in tragedy and she died by my own hand. Decades later I encountered her brother, who swore he would hunt me down for the rest of my days and ultimately take his revenge when I was least expecting it. I never heard from him again. I died peacefully in my bed at the age of eighty.
For most of this life, I didn't believe in reincarnation, nor did I have any memories of my past life. Nothing happened until I met Norah, and then the dreams began. Dreams of my first wife, and dreams of the man who was trying to hunt me down and kill me.
In my dreams I saw him as he was then, and I could also see who he is in this life. I'm terrified, and I'm taking off for now and going into hiding. I'll be in touch.
Other ARG news, Missing Wallace came to an end. What originally started as a simple missing person ARG turned into a battle between Angels and Demons, resulting in the prevention of the opening of a gateway to the underworld. It escalated fast, I mean, it really got out of hand! I have to admit I lost track after a while as the more enthusiastic players took hold and stormed through the puzzles. The PM gave a little bit of an interview in the unFiction thread here.
Finally, Dagada and myself managed to slog our ways to the end of the Fifteen Days of Darkness final solve. It ended up being a passage from Prometheus - now, apparently, we have to apply each section of the passage to a chapter in the game (ranging from the first Vanessa Atalanta game to the latest one). See how we are doing, here.
Monday, 31 January 2011
The Guardian and other News
Over the past week the Guild Wars Universe has been buzzing due to the lead up and subsequent release of the Guardian profession. There are no end of articles summarising the Guardian's role in Guild Wars 2, so I shan't dwell on it for too long: the Guardian is a Soldier class (and so uses Heavy Armour - that's right, armour with a U), he has three inherent buffs; which he can release at any time to benefit his compadres, he can create magical barriers and wards to protect his allies and keep his foes at bay.
I think that's a fairly succinct summary. Now, what I want to talk about is actually using the Guardian.
One of the most exciting things which come out of a persistent game world is the emergent situations which arise. The guys at ANet have tried building this into the game through their "dynamic events" system; wherein traditional quests are done away with and you pick up tasks in the area as they emerge. A number of these dynamic events described by ANet workers have been "protect this town" or "escort this caravan", this is, I believe, where the Guardian will shine and (to a certain extent) outshine other professions. Whereas a ranger might encounter a group of merchants in attack from a group of ettins and attempt to distract and kill the enemies before the merchants get splattered; the Guardian can run up and plop a shield around the men and then begin fighting off the ugly brutes. Similarly, say you encounter another player pursued by Centaur archers, you can save the day by pooping out a barrier to deflect the missiles back at the attackers. This might seem overpowered at first, and even very "monk-y", which would seem to contradict what the dudes over at ArenaNet have been saying about doing away with the Holy Trinity; however, Ravious at KillTenRats points out:
I had missed this comment and really should go back and reread this interview. This is the best news I have heard yet with regards to this profession. The flame-train was a rollin' when it was first released, the name "Paladin" was tossed about a lot and people feared they would become a necessity in a team, and most players would refuse to leave town without one. What this emphasises to me if the importance of positioning and environment with the Guardian; not just the infamous "red barring" (where the monk would just react to the red bar of player health dropping, rather than playing smart and protecting the player in a more active manner). Where you choose to stand and enact your skills will have a great impact on your and your allies well being. I can see the Guardian being a whole lot of fun to play solo (perhaps searching the countryside for people to save, damsels in distress etc) and in especially fun in groups. Hopefully, this approach will breed clever gaming. Either that, all the wammo Paladin fans will play Warrior...
I am looking forward to the next few months on Guild Wars, I've got my predictions for the remaining profession releases all set up, this is how I see the final line up playing out (unreleased and unconfirmed professions in italics):
Soldier Professions
Warrior
Guardian
Adventurer Professions
Ranger
Assassin
Gunner/Engineer - this is the only one I'm unsure about, but I'm hoping for something of this ilk
Scholar Professions
Elementalist
Necromancer
Mesmer
In GW1 info; Canthan New Year is coming up this weekend. Even more of a chance for me to stock up on sweets, booze and party items for when I finally finish Cartographer and have to focus on the consumable titles. If you catch me in the gutter, stoked up on wed bean cakes, twitching and consuming gallons of sugary blue drink - don't worry, I'm just trying to max Sweet Tooth.
It kind of feels like the new expansion; Cantha: Winds of Change, must be just around the corner.
With this and with the 7-hero update coming soon, I'm squeeing with pleasure. Literally squeeing all over the place, all up the walls and down the back of the sofa. I am squee-fountain.
ps. also some juicy info on the Sylvari from the lovely Ree Soesby. Yum...
pps. that yum is for the Sylvari info.
ppps. ok, maybe its a little for Ree.
I think that's a fairly succinct summary. Now, what I want to talk about is actually using the Guardian.
One of the most exciting things which come out of a persistent game world is the emergent situations which arise. The guys at ANet have tried building this into the game through their "dynamic events" system; wherein traditional quests are done away with and you pick up tasks in the area as they emerge. A number of these dynamic events described by ANet workers have been "protect this town" or "escort this caravan", this is, I believe, where the Guardian will shine and (to a certain extent) outshine other professions. Whereas a ranger might encounter a group of merchants in attack from a group of ettins and attempt to distract and kill the enemies before the merchants get splattered; the Guardian can run up and plop a shield around the men and then begin fighting off the ugly brutes. Similarly, say you encounter another player pursued by Centaur archers, you can save the day by pooping out a barrier to deflect the missiles back at the attackers. This might seem overpowered at first, and even very "monk-y", which would seem to contradict what the dudes over at ArenaNet have been saying about doing away with the Holy Trinity; however, Ravious at KillTenRats points out:
In an aggressive interview with Jon Peters, one of the Guild Wars 2 game designers, OnlineWelten asked about the use of guardian skills targeting allies. Peters said that there are no ally targeted skills in Guild Wars 2. No ally targeted skills. That bears repeating. That may be the “flash of genius” that changes the MMO industry. They are making systems so people play together more seamlessly and simultaneously taking away the mortar that has held together all other groups in prior conventional MMOs. There should be no reasonable doubt that the holy trinity is dead in Guild Wars 2. Another big effect is that almost all of the attention by players will be on the battlefield instead of party UI.
I had missed this comment and really should go back and reread this interview. This is the best news I have heard yet with regards to this profession. The flame-train was a rollin' when it was first released, the name "Paladin" was tossed about a lot and people feared they would become a necessity in a team, and most players would refuse to leave town without one. What this emphasises to me if the importance of positioning and environment with the Guardian; not just the infamous "red barring" (where the monk would just react to the red bar of player health dropping, rather than playing smart and protecting the player in a more active manner). Where you choose to stand and enact your skills will have a great impact on your and your allies well being. I can see the Guardian being a whole lot of fun to play solo (perhaps searching the countryside for people to save, damsels in distress etc) and in especially fun in groups. Hopefully, this approach will breed clever gaming. Either that, all the wammo Paladin fans will play Warrior...Soldier Professions
Warrior
Guardian
Adventurer Professions
Ranger
Assassin
Gunner/Engineer - this is the only one I'm unsure about, but I'm hoping for something of this ilk
Scholar Professions
Elementalist
Necromancer
Mesmer
In GW1 info; Canthan New Year is coming up this weekend. Even more of a chance for me to stock up on sweets, booze and party items for when I finally finish Cartographer and have to focus on the consumable titles. If you catch me in the gutter, stoked up on wed bean cakes, twitching and consuming gallons of sugary blue drink - don't worry, I'm just trying to max Sweet Tooth. It kind of feels like the new expansion; Cantha: Winds of Change, must be just around the corner.
With this and with the 7-hero update coming soon, I'm squeeing with pleasure. Literally squeeing all over the place, all up the walls and down the back of the sofa. I am squee-fountain.
ps. also some juicy info on the Sylvari from the lovely Ree Soesby. Yum...
pps. that yum is for the Sylvari info.
ppps. ok, maybe its a little for Ree.
Saturday, 22 January 2011
Waiting for my Blue Mace Lady
The GW2 bandwagon is crawling slowly closer to its next reveal, we've heard news that there will be a profession reveal over the next couple of weeks and I've heard rumour that it will be on the 27th Jan. A lot of slavering Guild Wars gurus are predicting the release of another "Soldier" class - possibly one depicted in the picture below:
This charming young woman has been dubbed "Blue Mace Lady" (BML). I know; its succint, it doesn't mess about, its a very utlitarian naming system. Recent information has been attained that the new profession will actually be called "Guardian" and Regina Buenaobra has confirmed that the update will be on the 27th. So, the whole of GW2guru is 'abuzzin with speculation about the class make-up and how it will fit into the game as a whole.
Sometimes it can be hard to keep up with new game info, especially if you've got other stuff going on at the time. That's why it was nice to come across Sabrewolf18's Channel on YouTube earlier this morning. Over the course of about 6 months, Sabrewolf posted regular summaries of all the GW2 updates out there in nice tasty morsels. Unfortunately, he seems to have moved over to vidthru.com recently and the rest of his videos will be coming through there; so I can't embed any here (as far as I can tell, anyway!).
Finally, late 2010 we got confirmation that the 7 hero update for GW1 will be coming early in 2011. Personally, I cannot wait. GWguru patrons have been revelling in the information, and piecing together their ideal builds over the past few months.
So much tasty Guild Wars morsels are just on the horizon, its going to be a good start to 2011.
ps. hoping to get Little Big Planet 2 later today - squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
This charming young woman has been dubbed "Blue Mace Lady" (BML). I know; its succint, it doesn't mess about, its a very utlitarian naming system. Recent information has been attained that the new profession will actually be called "Guardian" and Regina Buenaobra has confirmed that the update will be on the 27th. So, the whole of GW2guru is 'abuzzin with speculation about the class make-up and how it will fit into the game as a whole.
Sometimes it can be hard to keep up with new game info, especially if you've got other stuff going on at the time. That's why it was nice to come across Sabrewolf18's Channel on YouTube earlier this morning. Over the course of about 6 months, Sabrewolf posted regular summaries of all the GW2 updates out there in nice tasty morsels. Unfortunately, he seems to have moved over to vidthru.com recently and the rest of his videos will be coming through there; so I can't embed any here (as far as I can tell, anyway!).
Finally, late 2010 we got confirmation that the 7 hero update for GW1 will be coming early in 2011. Personally, I cannot wait. GWguru patrons have been revelling in the information, and piecing together their ideal builds over the past few months.
So much tasty Guild Wars morsels are just on the horizon, its going to be a good start to 2011.
Sunday, 16 January 2011
Marble Hornets: Entries #28-32
There are a couple of things I want to talk about re: Marble Hornets today, so I reckon this is probably going to be a long one - first I'm going to talk about the Entries #28 - #32, and second how a really well constructed narrative like Marble Hornets can affect your life/sanity/wardrobe. For your delectation, Entry #32:
So, #28-32. If you haven't seen them, head here for #28, #29, #30, #31, aaaand #32 - do it now - the story is just getting juicy and I like where they are going. Troy and the gang have resisted the temptation to jump straight back into the sequence of normal vid, slendy reveal, TTA response, normal vid. They are ramping up the tension and its not until #32 that the intrigue really kicks in. There are chekov's guns galore going on in the Entries up to #32 (the pills, the safe, the blood on the stones etc). Jessica, Jay's neighbour in the hotel, is slipped in as early as #27 as just a passer by, but its not until #31/#32 that you really get to grips with the role she's going to play in the story.
Talking of Jessica - the acting in the series so far is really top notch. Troy (on his blog) talks about how he's attended a really good acting class between the shooting of the previous series and this one and I believe its really payed off. In addition, watch #32 - Jessica's acting in that scene is excellent, she looks genuinely haggard and scared, desperate for Jay to affirm to her that she isn't going insane. There have been some complaints on unFiction that the smirk which comes in a little to the end is an acting tick, but I like to interpret it as a result of her relief that maybe Jay is in the same crazy ass boat as her.
#29 is an interesting one, seemingly showing Jay discovering the scene of some bloody massacre in a tunnel out in the wilderness. Its not clear yet whether this has occurred yet (as there are some thoughts as to whether Slenderman can manipulate time/space), or whether it happened in the 7 months between the two series. All I know is that when this happened, I crapped myself:
#30 shows Jay freaking Jess out by showing up at her door in the middle of the night with a camera. Smooth moves ex-lax. He feeds her some awkward lies, and retires to bed in a grump. #31 has Jay heading out to the nearest park to see if he can find the location from #29, he doesn't really find much more than a rolly-polly hoody dubbed "trailguy" by the community. #31 is actually very well shot, you really begin to feel Jay's paranoia as he darts through woody groves and goes prone in piles of leaves to try to lose this clearly confused rambler.
#32, well - I won't talk too much about it, just commend Jess's acting and the "tired eyes" make-up she had applied. The story is really hotting up now, I'm not sure whether they'll go down the dynamic duo route quite yet - but I'm very excited about where the story is going and I can't wait to see if TTA/Masky is going to make his grand entrance soon.
Click here to view the article on Entry #27
So, #28-32. If you haven't seen them, head here for #28, #29, #30, #31, aaaand #32 - do it now - the story is just getting juicy and I like where they are going. Troy and the gang have resisted the temptation to jump straight back into the sequence of normal vid, slendy reveal, TTA response, normal vid. They are ramping up the tension and its not until #32 that the intrigue really kicks in. There are chekov's guns galore going on in the Entries up to #32 (the pills, the safe, the blood on the stones etc). Jessica, Jay's neighbour in the hotel, is slipped in as early as #27 as just a passer by, but its not until #31/#32 that you really get to grips with the role she's going to play in the story.
Talking of Jessica - the acting in the series so far is really top notch. Troy (on his blog) talks about how he's attended a really good acting class between the shooting of the previous series and this one and I believe its really payed off. In addition, watch #32 - Jessica's acting in that scene is excellent, she looks genuinely haggard and scared, desperate for Jay to affirm to her that she isn't going insane. There have been some complaints on unFiction that the smirk which comes in a little to the end is an acting tick, but I like to interpret it as a result of her relief that maybe Jay is in the same crazy ass boat as her.
#29 is an interesting one, seemingly showing Jay discovering the scene of some bloody massacre in a tunnel out in the wilderness. Its not clear yet whether this has occurred yet (as there are some thoughts as to whether Slenderman can manipulate time/space), or whether it happened in the 7 months between the two series. All I know is that when this happened, I crapped myself:
#30 shows Jay freaking Jess out by showing up at her door in the middle of the night with a camera. Smooth moves ex-lax. He feeds her some awkward lies, and retires to bed in a grump. #31 has Jay heading out to the nearest park to see if he can find the location from #29, he doesn't really find much more than a rolly-polly hoody dubbed "trailguy" by the community. #31 is actually very well shot, you really begin to feel Jay's paranoia as he darts through woody groves and goes prone in piles of leaves to try to lose this clearly confused rambler.
#32, well - I won't talk too much about it, just commend Jess's acting and the "tired eyes" make-up she had applied. The story is really hotting up now, I'm not sure whether they'll go down the dynamic duo route quite yet - but I'm very excited about where the story is going and I can't wait to see if TTA/Masky is going to make his grand entrance soon.
Click here to view the article on Entry #27
Monday, 20 December 2010
Guild Wars: Wintersday 2010
Ah look, its the non-denominational secular holiday man! Here he comes in his generic multi-faith red suit, with his non-threatening possibly Sikh inspired white beard. He's come to hand out inoffensive non-specific winter-themed gifts! Hooray! Merry Christma... I mean, Yay for Wintersday!
Guild Wars' Christmas is always an amusing time, ANet try so hard to please everyone that you get odd uncanny valley Christmas cliches cropping up left right and centre: Elder Skruug, Grenches, Jingle Bears etc etc. Far from finding this attempt to side-step the normal PC problems galling, I actually find it quite quaint, perhaps its my rose-tinted view of the GW universe.
Looking forward to Christmas this year - in and out of game - in Guild Wars they are bringing Melandru (Goddess of Nature) and Balthazar (God of War) into the mix to join Grenth (God of Death) and Dwayna (Goddess of Life) in the Wintersday celebrations. Unfortunately, I'm missing the finale which takes place over New Year, as I'll be up in the Lake District - my friends parents own a hotel up there and its a great place for a New Year's Eve party!
In the real world, it's mine and the Mrs' first Christmas outside of our family nests and although it will be a little weird, I can't wait! Our tree is up, I've made mulled wine, wrapped the presents and spent all my savings (my girlfriend had the excellent idea to be born JUST after Christmas, meaning I have to buy her presents x2). So, its going to be a scant Christmas, what with the monetary constraints, but we'll have fun, I'm sure! To top this off, we got Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood the other day, shes dead into it; even to the point where if she can't find her glasses she will sit inches away from the telly, see below:
Guild Wars' Christmas is always an amusing time, ANet try so hard to please everyone that you get odd uncanny valley Christmas cliches cropping up left right and centre: Elder Skruug, Grenches, Jingle Bears etc etc. Far from finding this attempt to side-step the normal PC problems galling, I actually find it quite quaint, perhaps its my rose-tinted view of the GW universe.
In the real world, it's mine and the Mrs' first Christmas outside of our family nests and although it will be a little weird, I can't wait! Our tree is up, I've made mulled wine, wrapped the presents and spent all my savings (my girlfriend had the excellent idea to be born JUST after Christmas, meaning I have to buy her presents x2). So, its going to be a scant Christmas, what with the monetary constraints, but we'll have fun, I'm sure! To top this off, we got Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood the other day, shes dead into it; even to the point where if she can't find her glasses she will sit inches away from the telly, see below:
Thursday, 11 November 2010
Journalspace Revived - Riiiise from your Grave!
I was very happy to discover that the loss of JS wasn't just something which I mourned, but there was still a rag-tag group of bloggers from the great blowout of '08. I came across Dorrie's blog whilst searching for some old names who I used to blog with back then. Just thought I'd say I really appreciate the effort you've gone to for the community. Here is a picture of a mouse with a hat on as compensation for your efforts:
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