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Asura - Info

A great Article on Asura who are not in the beta boo boo.

The highlights:

Guild Wars’ pint-size Asura are as crazy as they are smart

complete control over facial features and appendages like those ginormous floppy ears.

 The Asura capital city of Rata Sum is an engineering miracle. Intricately cut into a mountain-sized cube, its geometrically shaped decorations float impossibly in the sky, dispersing vegetation, water, and technology around the place.

First build for beta

So I have decided on  my first build for the  Beta weekend. The first of many.

I like this as it allows me to test the following:

Two different mainhand Weapons
Two different offhand Weapons
I also get to test the range of teh teleport on the 1 handed sword, as well as the range on the two other
 teleports.
I can check the regen from the mace.
Also the knockback from the shield.
I want to find out the strenght of the retaliation skill too.

In terms of traits I can look at:

The boons from Inspired Virtue
If Couragious and Battle Presence stack
See what Pure of heart actually does
See how altruistic healing helas me
judge the value of Strenght in numbers
The damage from defenders flame.

Keybinds for GW2

These are the binds I am thinking of using on my Logitec G13.

I dont believe in the WoW Killer and neither do these guys

As for the World of Warcraft-killer slogan that has been bandied about in the press, O’Brien said “nothing is going to kill WoW other than WoW. Games just don’t die. But do gamers think we’ve seen the most popular online game we’ve ever seen and we’ll never see something more popular than that? I don’t think so. One MMO has been on the top of the heap for seven years now, but there’s been a progression in the industry for other games being able to attract more and more players.

The full piece


Also a balanced review here. The highlights:

Whether or not GW2 is the saviour some want it to be will be down to the individual. Its big ideas are subtle enough to pass by anyone who isn’t attuned to the way MMOs usually operate, yet substantial enough to unsettle players invested in the status quo. It’s player-driven both in the sense that its users determine the state of its content, but also in that it doesn’t offer the satisfaction of ‘finishing’ an area before moving on to the next. It’s constantly in motion, and as such you’re asked to be far more proactive in seeking out your fun.

What’s exciting about Guild Wars 2 is that it returns the emphasis of the MMO to having fun on your own terms. Even if the range of events you may encounter is fixed, the array of variables and the possibility of encountering those events with any number of other people creates a huge matrix of potential experiences.

 For those who arent familiar with the franchise.

My Beta Bunker

List of things to stock to Guild Wars 2 Beta bunker.

Crate of beer

Bottle of Whiskey

Bottle of Coke

Bacon sausages eggs for Saturday breakfast.

Chicken to roast for Saturday dinner.

Pork chops for Sunday dinner.

Assorted veg.

Chocolate

Jelly sweets

Bread

Cheese

Milk

Old School

Any old school player was on mumble today and reminded me of the old days. Thanks to Searinox the worlds skinniest Tank

Synergy

I used the term synergy and was asked to explain it.

Definition: Synergy comes from the Greek word synergia, meaning joint work and cooperative action.

Synergy is when the result is greater than the sum of the parts. Synergy is created when things work in concert together to create an outcome that is in some way of more value than the total of what the individual inputs is.

Examples:

Smoking can cause lung cancer. Breathing asbestos can cause lung cancer. Smoking and breathing asbestos can cause lung cancer at a higher rate than the sum of individual smoking and asbestos rates.

In organization Synergy becomes very important. Take an organization of your choice and bringing out the importance of Synergy in making the organization more productive. This can be your team at work or a pvp raid group.

Builds form an integral component of Guild Wars 2, and selecting skills is just as important as how you use those skills. Many skills act in synergy with each other and offer tons of options for combinations.

Do you want a mixed flexible team or are you strictly following a straightforward plan? What exactly are your specific strategies as a player?

There's no easy way to build a team which caters to a player's strengths. It all takes efficient planning

 This is an intersting post in regard to Guardians and Synergy.

Also some additions here.


and consideration

The Guardian In Beta

I have been following the Guardian class a while in my blog .  This weekend will allow me to confirm whether I will play it in live.I have also been following the forums on the class.

I would recommend these

especially the theorycraft section. Its not yet up to the standards of theorycrafting as say elitestjerks in WoW but I imagine the official forums will get there as the traits in this game are a min/maxers dream.

It ticks a lot of boxes for me. I like the subtley of support play, the BlackOrc and the Vanguard were enjoyable experiences and could deciively influence a Battle. The guardian seems to fit this role with solid support skills, a few get out of jail free cards and some decent Area Control.

If you like you big dps numbers it may not be the class you want, although I am hopefully that as promised evey class can dps. I shall be testing this.

I had a very interesting dicussion with a member who likes playing Healersand wasn’t sure what to play(when did I turn into an agony Aunt?). We were discussing the ability to “forward” think in pvp. It’s a skill that is essential in pvp and is lacking in pvp . In relation to this he said that one of the reasons he likes the Healer role is that he recognizes that he lacks this ability and this is a primary reason he likes to heal as it allows him to distance himself from the hurley burley and survey whats going on giving himself time to act. The same player is a superb healer(one of may we picked up in Swtor, which is a gold mine of PVP healers for us) and I found his analysis stimulating.

So perhaps if you are a healer type or like that thinking time the Guardian is for you too.

In terms of the Beta itself I have set myself a few tasks. I want to try a few playstyles. Loosily I am terming these Tank, Healer and dps. I am curious to see if they have delivered us from the holy trinity. If they have it bodes well for the game.

I want to explore the various RvR maps as they are huge, I like to know the lay of the land.

Finally I will min/max to my hearts content exploring the synergies of traits and weapons.I spend an indecent amount of time theory crafting and on this builder.

I shall start with this

Then again I might not like it and will start from scratch on another class like the Necro.

Strategy and tactics

With Beta coming I was asked about Tactics and though this might be useful distinction for nascent commanders.

All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.

Strategy is immutable; it is a Big Picture look at a problem that focuses upon the entire forest and not individual trees. Military concepts such as objective, offensive, simplicity, unity of command, mass, economy of force, maneuver, surprise, and security represent the timeless principles of strategy. Why do you think Sun Tzu’s The Art of War has been a best seller for thousands of years and translated into every imaginable language? Because it teaches strategy and the lessons of strategy are timeless. They are bound to our very nature as humans.

Tactics vary with circumstances and, especially, technology. If I were to teach you how to be a soldier during the American Revolution, you would learn how to form and maneuver in lines, perform the 27 steps in loading and firing a musket, and how to ride and tend to a horse. Naturally, yesterday’s tactics won’t win today’s wars – but yesterday’s strategies still win today’s wars… and will win them tomorrow and into the future.

So, tactics present a Small Picture perspective where individual trees are in focus but the Big Picture of the forest is not. Just as your eyes have to look up from this page to refocus on the larger room you’re reading it in, so strategy and tactics require a different focus.

Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.

Quotes from Sun Tzu

What makes Guild Wars 2 great

Tips for Beta weekend.

A guildy directed me to this useful post.

Non Fan Boy Opinions

The trouble with all new MMO's id that the information from Fanbois is suspect. They just arent capable of spotting flaws in their much anticipated game.

 I prefer the less rose tinted view. This post has a go at having a critical look at Guild Wars 2.

Haters > Fanbois

This is my favorite bit:

#7 – Choices are Problems

Flaw #7 begins the path of objectivity. You can refute the profession overlap or the neglect of good ol’ Guild Wars, but you cannot refute the fact that Guild Wars 2 is trying to sell you the illusion of choice. Even though you’re locked into your first five skills because of your choice of weapon, there are still many other “choices” in Guild Wars 2 that will bring your character together. Not including the numerous tweaks to nose length and lip voluptuosity that I’m sure most of you will spend hours on, there are a bunch of choices like your weapon sets, jewellery, healing skill, utility skills, elite skills, attributes, traits, and so on that all affect gameplay. I call these “choices” an illusion because they aren’t really choices but rather problems that need solving. You choose between a path to victory and a path to defeat, rather than two different paths to victory. Here’s a snapshot of the difference:

To Solve: Arrive at a solution, usually by means of a mathematical operation or geometric construction. Solving a problem will reveal a “choice” between viable and not viable; you’re choosing between a path to victory and a path to defeat.

To Choose: To select from a number of possibilities; pick by preference. You pick from comparably viable options, or two different but equally efficient paths to victory.

Viable here means the most efficient path to victory, where victory is defeating your opponent or completing an objective. I can’t say a choice between playing to win and playing to lose is not a choice, because it is, just as much as choosing whether or not to eat is still a choice. The catch is the conclusion of the alternative is so dire that it questions the validity of the premise. Why play if not to win? If we put the semantics aside, we can say a choice between winning or losing isn’t a real choice. It’s the illusion of a choice. Once you factor in competition, however, losing actually is not an option; competition wouldn’t exist if it were. Hopefully that was a clear explanation, so let me show you how the game is creating the illusion.

I like critical looks at MMO's when they are in beta. There are way too many Fanbois posting and there contributions other than the factual ones ( you know trait X does Y) are near worthless.

I would rather have some one rip the game  as they have less of vested interest than the fanboi. Most people who don't like it will ignore it. If some one takes the time to criticize it he may have something to say.

That article has only a few points I would agree with but some of them were stimulating. The bit on choice or on illegible combat were good. The bit about it not being Guild Wars 2 strikes me as filler so he could get to 10 items on his list.

 It doesn't deal with the biggest issue, will the game be able to deliver mass PvP on its engine. Warhammer and Swtor failed at this. ironically the wow engine can do it but they don't have the necessary environment. I wonder how hard would it be to have a server v server v server expansion for WoW. Lore wise it would take some work but game wise it would be doable.

Test to see if you are you a min/maxer

I would always pick Power 101, hence I will roll a small race.

Conditions and Boons

Condition effects are negative effects placed on opponents. Better known as debuffs.
Boon effects are positive effects placed on allies. Better known as buffs.
Control effects are effects that temporarily restrict a foe's ability to move and/or use skills.
Other effects are effects that don't fall into the three categories above.

Conditions
Bleeding - Inflicts X damage per second. Stacks in intensity.
Blind - Causes the target's next hit to miss instead.
Burning - Inflicts X damage per second. Stacks in duration.
Chilled - 66% movement-speed reduction & 66% slower skill recharge while active. Stacks in duration.
Confusion - Inflicts X damage each time a foe uses skill. Stacks in intensity.
Crippled - Target moves 50% slower. Stacks in duration.
Fear - Causes the target to run directly away from the caster.
Immobilized - Immobilizes and prevents dodge. Stacks in duration.
Poison - Inflicts X damage per second. Reduces outgoing heals by 33%. Stacks in duration.
Vulnerability - X armor reduction. Stacks in intensity.
Weakness - 50% of attacks are glancing and endurance regeneration is reduced by 50%. Stack in duration.

Boons
Aegis - Block the next attack. Exclusive to guardians.
Fury - 20% Critical Chance increase. Stacks in duration.
Might - X damage per attack increase. Stacks intensity.
Protection - 33% damage reduction. Stacks in duration.
Regeneration - Regenerates X health per second. Stacks in duration.
Retaliation - Does X damage to an opponent each time they hit you. Stacks in duration.
Swiftness - 33% movement speed increase. Stacks in duration.
Vigor - Faster endurance regeneration. Stacks in duration.

Control
Cripple, Chilled, and Immobilize - slow and prevent movement.
Sink and Float- cause a creature to rise or fall in water.
Pull - forces an enemy to your location.
Wards - limit enemy movement beyond a line or circle.
Blind, Daze, and Weakness - reduce the damage enemies can deal.
Confusion and Retaliation - is a condition which deals damage each time a foe attacks.
Shield of Absorption or Whirling Defense - can block or deflect attacks.
Fear - causes enemies to run from you and prevents skill usage.
Knockback and Launch - force an enemy away from you and interrupt skills.
Knockdown and Stun - prevent any movement or skill usage.

Other
Distortion - is an effect exclusive to mesmers which allows them to evade attacks for some time.
Frenzy - is an effect that increases damage done with critical hits.
Frosty Armor - is an effect which protects against incoming attacks.
Haste - is an effect which improves endurance regeneration.
Quickening Zephyr - is an effect which increases movement speed.
Quickness - is an effect that makes all skills and actions twice as fast
Rejuvenation - is an effect that regenerates health. This effect is exclusive to the guardian profession through the Virtue of Resolve.
Smiting - is an effect that causes every fifth attack to apply burning. This effect is exclusive to the guardian profession through the Virtue of Justice.
Stability - is an effect that makes the target immune to crippled, chilled, knockdown, launch and knockback.
Stealth - is an effect which allows the user to be invisible to enemy players and avoid being spotted by enemy NPCs. A stealthed character will appear as a transparent outline to allies. In PvE, a foe will stop attacking if the target becomes stealthed. When thieves enter stealth, their first weapon skill changes to a special stealth skill.
Invulnerability - is an effect that prevents the target from taking damage or receiving conditions. It is automatically placed on many boss monsters during cutscenes. It is also placed on rallied players for one second.
Power of the Mists - is an effect that applies in World versus World and Player versus Environment and provides bonuses to the player depending on the war score of their home server. War scores are tiered with each tier unlocking an additional or upgraded bonus.

Guild Wars 2 Designer

Some PvP stuff at 4 mins.

100 Players versus a boss

Lowbie Guardian Gameplay

Traits some tips

Finding the right build is not as easy as it could seem.There are some great tips on traits here.

Highlights of the article.

Traits are one of the main ways you can create individual and group utility other than your skills. 

Trait lines are one of the many ways you can gain in a certain attribute.  It is true you most likely won’t find other sources to give +300 of one attribute, but you could be lacking a lot of utility for your character if you only build by them.

 All minor traits are more character specific.  Unlike most major traits, they are not concentrated on weapons or utility skills. 

Major traits are really diverse but generally they can be split into the following categories: damage modification, defense modification, attribute modification, recharge reduction, effect range increase, skill trigger effects, and misc. utility.

Conditions are also surprisingly trait point efficient like boons. Why invest in more power when you can just cause Vulnerability and do more damage?  Why increase axe damage by 5% when you can cause Poison that not only reduces healing but has a net damage way above a 5% calculation?

What Are Squads?

Squads are our solution to some of the communication difficulty we experienced early on in WvW. Good communication is an inextricable part of excelling on the battlefield, and our existing channels weren’t quite meeting our needs. Team chat was too large because everyone in the entire map could talk in it, resulting in too much noise. On the other hand, parties—which are capped at five members—were too small. In order to bridge that gap, we designed the squad system, which allows communication on a larger scale than parties, but in a much more focused manner than team chat.
A squad is a one-to-many command structure, with one commander at the top, and his followers underneath him. Each squad receives its own chat channel, which all members can see, but which only accepts chat from the commander. Normal members can only see what the commander says and cannot speak back.
Additionally, commanders gain access to a small set of squad map markers, which they may place on the map just like their normal party waypoint. All squad members will see these markers on their maps and compass. They represent orders such as “attack,” “defend,” “rally,” and “bring supply.”
We made squad communication flow in one direction because we wanted to keep it as simple as possible. We discussed complex hierarchical command structures, but decided they would be too difficult to learn and use. Joining a squad is simple and fast, and allows players to jump into the action right away with clear goals. Players in a squad shouldn’t feel alone or lost in the massive and hostile WvW landscape.

Joining a squad is just as easy as sending a whisper or a party invite. Simply select a teammate and right-click their portrait. If they’re in a squad, you’ll see an option to join their squad. Click that and you’re in! The commander doesn’t have to approve your request—you can join and leave freely. It doesn’t matter whether you click on a commander or a squad member. You’ll join the same squad as the person you clicked on, so you don’t have to worry about chasing down a commander in order to join a squad. In the party menu on the quick-launch bar, there’s a small squad panel. “Joining a squad is just as easy as sending a whisper or a party invite…”From there, you can leave the squad you’re in if you want to join a different one, or if you’re just done for the day.
This same panel can be used if you desire to become a commander yourself. When not in a squad, you’ll have the option to create one. Creating a squad will make you a commander. You’ll receive a special map marker that other players can see, and you’ll have an icon over your head that lets teammates around you know that you’re a commander. The icon is not visible to members of other squads, but it is visible to your squad’s members, other commanders on your team, and players not in a squad so that they can easily identify you. Once you’re a commander, you’ll have the ability to speak into your squad channel and place order markers on the map for your members. It’s definitely nice to strut around with your special commander icon, but being in charge is also a big responsibility. The right to become a commander must be earned.
In each team’s portal keep in their home map, and in the major cities, there is a Master Strategist merchant. For a substantial sum of gold, you can buy a manual that grants you the right to become a commander when used. This is a permanent right, so the manual only needs to be bought once for each character. The hefty gold cost is in place because we want to discourage people who aren’t really interested in being leaders on the battlefield from becoming commanders. The high cost also makes it likely that any commander you see knows the game well. We decided that gold would be a more fitting restriction for this than character level, because experienced players who start new characters will still have the gold required to buy the manual.

All of these communication features make WvW operations easier, but they will also be helpful for big PvE events as well. That’s exactly why the squad system is currently usable in both WvW and PvE maps. It works the same way no matter where you are, so whether you’re attacking a keep or teaching a big dragon bully a lesson, you can squad up to help get the job done. As with all our features, we’ll continue to polish and adjust squads as necessary to make sure they provide what is needed and fulfill their purpose well. In the meantime, I’ll be looking forward to seeing all of you commanders out there bravely lead your squads into battle.

Latest Guardian PVP

Latest GW2 Information.

Some new information on Guild Wars 2 over here.The highlights for me are:

Upcoming PvP maps, I think we released a screenshot that showed a little bit of one the other day with the guardians and the warrior, both with hammers. So we’ve for 2 more PvP maps that we haven’t revealed yet, they’re both capture point, one of them… I don’t want to totally give them away ‘cos I think we’re planning on revealing them. One of them is actually going to be pretty nostalgic for GW1 players so you can expect that to be something that has a lot of familiar elements for GW1 players and the second one actually is a pretty cool one that has a lot of underwater combat and involves a pirate ship so those are both pretty cool and we’ll be talking more about those I think pretty soon.

So in competitive PvP guilds are not really a thing that’s recognized as a particular unit, instead what you have is individual player recognition and team recognition. If all five of us here were part of a team, we would be recognized as that team, you people would be able to see what guild we would be part of, so it’s entirely possible that you get a famous team in which every single one of them is from a different guild, or more likely to be the case is that those people are going to join a guild and that’s kind of going to become their identity, it’s going to become their team name.

 There would be only a ladder for teams, not for the guilds

here are a couple ways in which we try to help players see that they’re forming a cross- profession  combo. The first is that we actually have an effect that plays of some sort like any key mentions. You can see the arrows catch fire or you can see the smoke going out if you do a stomp effect inside of a smoke cloud. The other thing which you get is a little pop-up that says ‘Combo’ whenever you’re performing a cross-profession combo, and it’s up to players to notice that we will probably do a little bit more refinement on it. I don’t know that is that noticeable just yet, but yeah, those are the two tools that we kind of want to rely on, it is the combo pop-up as well as the visual effects in the game.

you can join structured PvP when you are on the overflow server. People who are on other servers, the matchmaking in structured PvP are between different servers so you will be able to play with people from different servers.

More Engineer Information

So what happesn in the Mist?

This is a genuinely interesting video for those interested in PvP but have no idea what goes on before the fighting goes down. It shows how to buy armour and weapons from karma merchants even when you don’t have any actual karma in your possession.

The Guardian versus the Elementalist.

Guardian Gameplay with Total Biscuit

The Guild Interface