Today, Colin Johanson posted a long awaited developer blog that gives us insight into the next six months of development for Guild Wars 2. The main focus of the changes come in the forms of rewards and incentives for players to be playing different parts of the game. Colin breaks down the game into three spheres: sPVP, PVE and WvW. Each portion of the game should see some upgrades to the way players earn rewards. Whether it’s achievements that reward tokens to buy gear or WvW prestige ranks that award new skills and abilities, big things are coming for Guild Wars 2.

Keep reading to find out more.

Originally posted by Colin Johanson (Source)

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Hey guys,

Just a quick update on where the whole scavenger hunt system stands since I know that’s a topic many of you have brought up recently. We’re not currently actively working on building any sort of legendary precursor scavenger hunt, this is something we want to do in the future and we’re in the midst of designing how this would function, but no one is actively building this feature and you should not expect in the Jan/Feb/March releases at this point.
We are however working on expanding reward systems to make them more re-rewarding across all parts of the game, making the open world more rewarding, and adding new ways you can earn precursors as rewards via new reward systems taking advantage of our open persistent world.

Some of these additions will come as early as the January release, and will get covered in more detail in the next week or two as well release all the details about this release once testing has signed off it’s all ready to go in January. (we’ll also provide a high level summary of our goals with reward systems, etc. in our 2013 blog post, which should be out next week)

Originally posted by Colin Johanson (Source)

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Hey guys,
Just to help provide some clarity on this, we’ll be releasing within the next couple of weeks a high level summary of our big plans for the first half of 2013 to help provide more transparency into our plans with the game going forward. This will include providing more details about our goals for the game, information about the stories and features that you’ll see in the Jan/Feb/March releases.

To set expectations accordingly, the January release will be a relatively small release that sets the table for the stories and features we plan to roll out with the Feb/March releases and beyond. Also, there will be no new race, profession, or new region with these larger Feb/March releases. One of our major goals with these releases is making our existing world as strong as possible, ensuring there are reasons to go to all the locations in the world we’ve already built, and strengthening the core game we’ve provided. In saying this will be an expansions worth of stuff in these releases, we’re talking about the number of new features that will be rolled out across PvE, WvW, and PvP in early 2013, which usually you’d only find in an expansion for a traditional MMORPG.

More details and specifics to come in the next couple of weeks, but I hope that helps provide some more insight into what to expect at a very high level.

Originally posted by Habib Loew (Source)

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Thank you, Grit, for posting that link. It points to a post in which I describe the culling issue in some detail and discuss a few of the issues involved with changing culling. An even more in depth explanation of what culling is can be found here https://forum-en.guildwars2.com/forum/pvp/wuvwuv/The-real-problem-here-is-invisible-enemies-Give-their-algorithms-time-to-match-servers-properly/page/4#post356817 (be sure to read both that post and the next – my description exceeded the post size limit).

As you know we’ve been working on this problem for a while but what I think we haven’t ever said before is that our goal is to remove culling completely from WvW. In order to remove culling completely we have to address three issues:

1) Bandwidth out of our servers/datacenter (traffic would increase without culling)
2) Bandwidth in to each client (traffic to each client would also increase without culling)
3) Client performance issues related to rendering (potentially) all the players on a map at once. (Note that we base our performance requirements in this case on min-spec clients. We don’t want to stop anybody being able to play the game after all.)

Until all three of those issues have been dealt with we can’t turn culling off because doing so would cause something to break or perform poorly.

Ok, now let’s talk about what progress we’ve made!

Issue #1 was the easiest to deal with because we can basically just throw money at the problem. When we first started down the road toward removing culling from WvW I took a bunch of bandwidth measurements and then went to the executives and said, essentially, “Hey, if we disable culling our network traffic will increase by X%. Are we ok with that?”. The answer I got was a clear and unambiguous “yes!” So issue #1 isn’t a problem after all.
Issue #2 is a little harder. We need to ensure that folks with a min-spec network connection won’t be overwhelmed by the data we send them and we obviously can’t just buy a better connection for all of our players. So we put our heads together and came up with a plan to reduce the bandwidth required for WvW (and Gw2 in general) as much as possible. Those changes are in testing now and will be rolled out as soon as we’re convinced that they’re solid. Assuming we’re able to get everything working the way we’d like (and I’m fairly confident that we will) then this will address issue #2.

So that leaves us with issue #3: client performance. Some time ago the WvW team acquired an engine programmer who is focused 100% on this issue (and he is being assisted by another engine programmer who isn’t officially on the WvW team). They’re working on some really fantastic optimizations and engine modifications which we hope will allow even min-spec clients to render all the players on a WvW map. We’ll be talking in more detail about the specific changes they’re making when things get just a little more nailed down, but I can say right now that I’m very impressed with the work they’ve done already.

So that’s where we are. Engine programmers are working their magic even now and we’re testing the networking changes that will be required. I believe that our goal of removing culling from WvW is achievable and I’m looking forward to the day that I can announce to you all that we’ve pulled it off!

Originally posted by Gaile Gray (Source)

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I’ve seen the numbers, and the damage to the economy could have been substantial, if the exploit wasn’t closed down and if these people were allowed to use their ill-gotten gains. People whose accounts were terminated were the worst offenders. I’m talking a lot of ill gotten gains, and a significant risk to the economy.

Any time you take one thing and can make two, and then four, and then sixteen… ya gotta know that’s just wrong. (I won’t quibble on the odds, overall, doubling was not outside the rules of probability.) And to perform that action hundreds and hundreds of times? That’s call “exploitation,” my friend, and that’s against the User Agreement, the Rules of Conduct, and all that is holy.

I know the OP will disagree. But we’ve been more than kind, in the past, and everyone needs to own up to his/her errors and recognize: We all are part of the game economy, and those who exploit it are hurting the rest of us.

Exploit closed.
Worst offenders terminated.
That’s what has to happen to make things right for all of us.

The originally exploit, if you haven’t paid attention, was that the original jewelry recipe called for one ecto to be used. When you salvaged the item you had the chance to get 0-3 back. Thus players using different levels of salvage kits were able to infinitely farm ectos, thus endangering the economy. Much like the Karma bannings a few months ago, Arenanet took a strong stance towards exploiters again.

Isaiah Cartwright, lead designer on Guild Wars 2, issued a developer blog last Friday with some details about future improvements being made to Fractals of the Mists. We’ll be seeing an improved reconnect feature for players as well as improvements to the party-tier system, which is used for placing groups within the fractal tiers. Here’s what he had to say about the tier system changes:

We’ve also made a few changes to the way party-level restrictions work. Currently, players who want to join a party are limited to the lowest fractal level in the party. This makes it difficult for lower fractal-level players to find parties, so we’ve modified the party-level restrictions to allow players of any fractal level to group up. At party creation, players can choose any fractal level up to the highest fractal level in the party. Upon completion of the fractal run, all players equal to or lower than the chosen fractal level will have their fractal level increased by one. All players above the chosen fractal level will gain karma, but their fractal level will not increase. Rewards from the fractal will be based on players’ personal reward level as long as the reward level is equal to or lower than the chosen fractal level.

For all the details, make sure to check out the full developer blog.

Okay, so I may have abused the “Wintersday is coming” joke a bit too much by now (and I’m sure I’m not the only one), but yes, Wintersday is now quickly approaching Tyria. The festivities begin Friday, December 14th. Yesterday, ArenaNet released a schedule of events for the holiday, along with a video, new screenshots, concept art, and a list of the some of the activities in store for holiday enthusiasts.

There will be new items arriving in the Black Lion Trading Company store, of course, and among the new arrivals are new sets of town clothes, weapon skins, and chests full of holiday treasures. Toymaker Tixx (pictured above), the central figure of Wintersday, will be making his way around Tyria as the holiday event progresses, allowing players across all regions to take part in the asura’s toymaking adventures. There will also be new mini-games to enjoy, a holiday-themed jumping puzzle, and a PvP snowball-crazed fight to participate in. Keep reading to see the schedule of events for Wintersday.

Originally posted by Habib Loew (Source)

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Wintersday is coming and along with all the other goodies there will be a few updates to WvW. Some of these changes are the result of forum feedback while others are part of our longer term plans for WvW. Here’s a quick preview of what WvW will get for Wintersday:

Advance notification of new builds
In order to allow WvW players to make good decions about siege placement, assault timing, etc. we’re adding a new build pre-announcement. This will be in the form of a message broadcast to all players some time before the current build expires. Because this notification is tied to one of the final steps in our build process, and those final steps take a variable amount of time, we won’t be able to say exactly when the current build will expire. Instead, the message will provide a window of time in which the new build will become available.

Alt+F4 is no escape
If someone that you’re fighting disconnects during combat (via Alt+F4, killing the client process, etc.) their character will be instantly killed, death penalties will be applied, and XP & loot will be handed out as usual.

No more insta-build walls & gates
Destroyed walls and gates will now rebuild when they reach 10% health rather than on the very first repair. This means that when attackers down a wall or gate defenders won’t be able to instantly rebuild it. Walls and gates which are destroyed can still be damaged if they have any health.

Breakout events
We’ve added a new event type to WvW called Breakout events which trigger when one or more teams have been pushed completely out of a map. They’re designed both to help players break out of severly camped portal keeps and to provide assistance in establishing a foothold in each map. Here’s what designer Matt Witter has to say about them:

Break Out Events are special WvW events that will happen when a team has lost control of all defensive structures, not counting supply camps. An NPC commander will appear in the team’s start area and an event will start that prompts players to gather around. Once enough players are in the commander’s presence he will summon his trusty dolyak to give all allies in the area full supply. He will then lead the charge to the nearby objective and give players protection and assist with building siege to assault the objective with. Those benefits, along with a defensive boon that he applies to all nearby allies, makes the attacking players a force to be reckoned with. Defenders will have their work cut out for them, as once the gate or wall piece is destroyed the commander will move to the tower lord inside and attack anyone in his path.

These changes are just a small part of what the WvW team has been up to lately. As you may have already heard, we’re hard at work on some larger updates that we plan to deliver in February. We’re not quite ready to talk about the details yet but as February gets closer we’ll start to reveal more of our secrets.

Happy Wintersday and we’ll see you on the battlefield!

Winter is definitely upon us, and ArenaNet is continuing their tradition of rolling out fun holiday events for Guild Wars fans. From December 14th through January 3rd, Guild Wars 2 will be decked out in all the holiday cheer of Wintersday, Tyria’s winter-flavored holiday event. The team released a teaser page for the event so far, which shows off some colorful concept art drawings, and tells players a bit about what to expect during Wintersday.

Toys. That’s right. Wintersday is all about toys and goodies. Toymaker Trixx will be visiting Lion’s Arch this year, and toys and fun will both be aplenty. Sounds festive!

Visit ArenaNet’s Wintersday page for more information.

In other recent, not-quite-related news, the Black Lion Trading Company now sells Self-Style Hair Kits and Makeover Kits that players can use to completely change their in-game looks. The hair kits cost 250 gems for one kit or five kits for 1000 gems. The makeover kits cost 350 gems apiece or five for 1400. As an added bonus, gender changes are also a part of the makeover kit.

World vs. World scores from matches ending on 11/23/12. EU on the left, NA on the right.

Guildwars 2 is now live and it’s one of the fastest growing MMORPGs on the planet and we’re looking for help to cover everything that might be interesting! If you love the game and want to share your knowledge and skill with the rest of the world, this is the best place to do it. We’re looking for all types of talent from writers, to bloggers, to video recorders. Here are a few details.

• Guide Writers: Dungeons, Crafting, Professions, Leveling
• Bloggers: Write about your stories. If it’s interesting, we’ll publish it.
• Community Beat Writers: Want to write about guild drama? The latest funny video? Find a great guide you want to talk about? This position is for you.
• News Writers: Help cover the up to date news of Arenanet and GW2

Maybe you want to do all of them? It’s up to you. There are no deadlines, no expectations; we just want you to have fun and be part of building something great. So if you’re really interested in joining Junkies Nation shoot me an email at [email protected] and let me know how you’d like to help. Make sure you include a short writing sample as well!

ArenaNet revealed more information about Temple of the Mists yesterday in a new developer blog. Temple of the Mists is the new PvP map (in its beta version) coming in November’s update, and besides the new map, we’re also going to be seeing some other changes to PvP, including the addition of daily and monthly PvP achievements which grant rewards, qualifying leader point boards, and some revisions to the current tournament entry fees and rewards. There are also going to be some minor PvP changes, including the following:

We’ve reorganized the PvP browser hot-join maps so that some are 5-on-5 and some are the current 8-on-8. We’ve made this change so that people who want to play 5-on-5 instead of 8-on-8 in public maps have the option to do so.

Players will also be able to use /rank in the PvP lobby to show off their PvP rank! While this can’t be used in matches (we don’t want people confusing them with finishing stomps) we wanted people to be able to show off how awesome they are in PvP.

For a full list of all PvP changes this patch, please check out the patch notes right here.

For the full November PvP update developer blog, check out the official site.

It’s been a good week for The Lost Shores information reveals! Yesterday we received another developer blog update from Leah Rivera, who showed off some details and a cool video about the new dungeon that’s built out of mini-dungeons being added Friday– Fractals of the Mist:

This dungeon is unlike anything you’ve played in Guild Wars 2. It’s built of an array of mini-dungeons, which we call fractals. These fractals are slices of the Mists, fragments of time that have been stabilized by the intrepid asura researcher Dessa. Some of these vignettes from history may be familiar to original Guild Wars players, while others will represent previously unseen events. Because of their eclectic origin, each fractal is built as a distinct, separate experience with themes, mechanics, and art specific to that fractal.

Leah Rivera goes on to explain the fractals system, which plops your party at a central hub every time a mini-dungeon, or fractal, has been cleared. After this point, the party has the opportunity to explore a different fractal, which is completely random and scales in difficulty as your party advances. This new dungeon will be open for players of all levels, since it will scale us to level 80, but it’s definitely meant to be a challenge, especially for lower level parties.

Keep reading to check out the video, which is quite impressive!

Introducing The Lost Shores, a spectacular one-time world event in Guild Wars 2. Join the fight against a monstrous new species and discover a brand new island map! This special event takes place November 16-18, 2012 – don’t miss it!

Today, Arenanet has announced a new progression pathway moving forward. We’ve all seen the complaints from around the community that there really is no progression once you gain a full set of exotic armor. Well, Arenanet has answered that call with new types of items to collect and gear up with so your character can continue to progress.

As we watch Guild Wars 2 mature in its Live environment, we have found that our most dedicated players were achieving their set of Exotic gear and hitting “the Legendary wall.” We designed the process of getting Legendary gear to be a long term goal, but players were ready to start on that path much sooner than we expected and were becoming frustrated with a lack of personal progression. Our desire is to create a game that is more inclusive for hardcore and casual players alike, but we don’t want to overlook the basic need for players to feel like they are progressing and growing even after hitting max level. Adding item progression is a delicate process normally undertaken in an expansion, but we feel it’s important to strive to satisfy the basic needs of our players sooner rather than later.

Players will be able to collect a set of “Ascended” gear which falls between Exotic and Legendary. On top of that, players will be able to obtain Infusions which will be able to be placed into special gear to augment your playstyle.

There are multiple types of Infusions and Infusion slots. In November, we’ll introduce Offensive, Defensive, and Omni Infusions of Fine rarity from new Mystic Forge recipes. Infusion upgrade types must be paired with their like slot, with the exception of the rare and versatile Omni Infusions which can be slotted into any type of Infusion slot.

You can read the full developer blog over on the official website.