So, about that Guild Wars 2 Beta...

[Satoshi]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxeffOuV_5o

I'm pretty sure everyone interested has put in for it. Just wanted to share this little bit, because it's gotten me even more excited than ever. As we draw closer to an official launch, I just wanted to get some discussion going on.

I'm going to be rolling a Charr Necromancer (and be ashamed of myself for not being a warrior, engineer, or rogue), and I'll probably be living in the Eternal Battlegrounds with Nyssis, Kasso, Lleth (maybe), and pretty much anyone else who wants to join our glorious war banner. Looking forward to the community-building that it looks like is going to be necessary for this 3W warzone.

[Saulus]

Having played GW1, I think GW2 is just a massive hype machine that will soon deflate several months after its release. The way most people talk about it it's like a messiah come to save them.

[roguethree]

My boys and I were top-end GvG in GW1, and we really loved the PvP side of that game. GW2 doesn't look like the kind of game that can have hotly contested international GvG tournaments. The focus on the clusterfuck that will probably be WvW pvp is probably going to disappoint me, as once PvP gets more than 10 people per side, it gets stupid in any game that's not an FPS.

I really thought they had a winner with the low level/hp cap, but apparently they didn't think so, so we'll see. I've been spending some time in GW1 farming up a few titles in anticipation of GW2 not sucking, so here's hoping.

[ImaginaryBoy]

Never played Guildwars.. but that video looks awesome. Am currently downloading a trial now. Is it all PvP or is there PvE as well?

[Seheren]

I bought the game, and the expansions, in '09 played for a month or so, and hadn't thought about it again until today. Perhaps its time to check it out again.

[Satoshi]

@Saulus: I can't say whether or not it will 'live up' to it's hype. Probably not, since no game can truly meet the expectations set forth by the imagination and still launch. But, it will be a one-time purchase and it looks like it will at least provide a good substitute for the 'modern' MMOs that are mostly mediocre and not really worth the subscription past the first 2-3 months.

@r3: I honestly can't say why the decided to change the level cap. Removing secondary jobs by itself would have really squelched the potential for the gimmicky red-line power combos. However, the GvG (group versus group, right?) scene has been shifted to the objective-based pvp map. They apparently intend that to be the competitive ranked ladder pvp, and since there will be no gear-based discrepancy it should be all about class composition, team-work, and player skill. I recall reading about ranked pre-made teams, but I'd have to look again. That might be what you want to look into.

@IB: I only played the trial for GW myself. Seemed decent enough, but the lack of jumping and the fact the game had already been out for 4-5 years by the time I started seriously looking at it kept me from actually buying in.

@Seheran: Tell me how it goes, broham.

The Eternal Battlefields looks like it's going to suffer from DOAC/WAR syndrome and be a massive zergfest where whoever has the strongest ranged 'artillery' will win the skirmishes, and keeps will be near impossible to take as long as a handful of solid defense classes (engineer/necromancer) are camping the walls. I'll probably still have a lot of fun, just because I'm a sucker for mass warfare and the illusion of territory control.