The Cold Water of Bad Presentation

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arenanet, dev livestream, dev stream, developers, end of dragons, give me the bottles mother, guild wars 2, gw2, livestream, MMO, mmorpg, mmorpgs, mmos, presentation, stream

So a few days ago I put out a tweet and wrote a blog about expansion hype, both of which was prompted by Guild Wars 2 and the incoming End of Dragons expansion. Initially, I was very curious about the three elite specs that were previewed and was eager to try my hand at the game again to see if perhaps I’m in the right mood for the MMO.

That was all before I watched a large portion of an official beta preview stream, primarily for MOP work purposes and also partially for my own curiosity. And after having gone through that video, I am now significantly less interested in both End of Dragons and GW2. And it’s all thanks to some extremely bad presentation.

That Old Expansion Hype Again

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expansion, expansion pack, fomo, guild wars, guild wars 2, gw2, hype, MMO, mmo dlc, mmorpg, mmorpg dlc, mmorpg expansion, mmorpgs, mmos, new game, new games, new things

Something about Guild Wars 2 continues to not sink in even though I feel like it should. It’s got a nice little open world vibe. It’s combat is… well, it’s something I’ve gotten used to even if it’s not something I’m in love with. It has a big fluffy cat race. It has raids that I’d like to try and see someday. And it has a more relaxed, open, and cooperative sort of leveling playstyle. Yet I still can’t get into it.

Even knowing this, I still find myself becoming enthralled by the siren song of the End of Dragons expansion and I’m reminded that this is a trap I just can’t stop falling in to.

ArenaNet and the Price Paid

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anet, arenanet, community, games, gaming, guild wars 2, gw2, MMO, mmo gaming, mmorpg, mmorpg gaming, reddit, social media, twitter

By now, everyone has had more than enough time to process the matter of ArenaNet’s actions against two of the writers of Guild Wars 2, including the resultant blowback that still seems to be washing onward at the point of my writing this blog. As someone who likes to follow and write about MMOs and multiplayer games, there’s something of a compulsion to provide my own opinion on the whole sorry affair, but there’s also quite a lot of thoughts I would like to get off of my chest.

Before I begin, though, I do want to mention that links that I provide in this post are very likely going to direct to some unpleasant content, so if that’s a sensitive spot for you, then I implore you to not click any links in this post if that will cause you to be upset.

I’ll also be including pictures of owls to further smooth the edges.

The Joy of Doing It “Wrong”

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gameplay, gaming, group, guild wars, guild wars 2, gw2, MMO, mmorpg, path of fire, play, pve, solo

Below is a picture of my build in Guild Wars 2.

I’m running a Guardian right now who wades into battle almost exclusively with a mace and a shield. I’m not entirely sure that I’ve gotten this build optimized, but damn if it isn’t optimized for me.

Comin’ In HoT

Tags

dps, guild wars 2, map completion, melee, MMO, ranged

So right now I’m doing a lot of playing in Guild Wars 2.  As of this writing, I’ve got an Asura Necromancer up to nearly level 24.

Who’s a widdle despoiler of life?

Specifically, the build I’m running (I think? I dunno, the whole way traits work now is weird as hell) is about conditions and slow hurty.  So, I’ve got a staff when I’m in large group actions and an axe and focus when I’m tumbling around solo.  The weird thing is, though, that when I’m using the axe it operates at range.  The whole thing just feels…disjointed.

The Requisite Guild Wars 2 Post

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announcement, challenge, content, expansion, guild wars 2, heart of thorns, meta, opinion, pax prime, raids

The title of this post is really just a riff on how mandatory this all feels.  Quite literally every blog I read has had something to say about Guild Wars 2’s PAX reveal this past weekend.  And not many of them have had cuddly things to say.

So, in the interest of following the compulsion of the Blogging Borg (Blorg?) and to hopefully counter some of this negativity around the announce, I’m going to write why I think Raids in Guild Wars 2 could be a nice thing.

Blaugust Day 18 – The Back Burner and Regret

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back burner, choices, eso, guild wars 2, marvel heroes, regret, tera, tsw

Anyone who plays MMO’s or games in general a lot is familiar with the idea of a “back burner”.  You all know what I mean–the log of titles on Steam you snapped up on sale but have yet to install.  The stack of games on a shelf that you sorta walked away from for whatever reason.  The desktop icons of MMO’s that you haven’t touched or subscribed to in a while but can’t really bear to remove.  Maybe sometimes you even boot up a patcher to keep current, but that’s about it.

I’m such a fan of MMO’s that I can find the joy in almost every title I’ve played.  Even my much-despised Champions Online has its good points.  Namely, the Freeform Powerset, which is one of the most robust and flexible “build your own character” system I have ever experienced in any video game, MMO or otherwise.  Some games, however, carry a sting of regret for me.  Titles that, for whatever reason, didn’t grab me from the word go but I still keep eyes on because I think there’s something wrong with me and not with the game.