While the official Guild Wars 2 forums were still active after the second weekend beta event, there was a player-made topic asking for wish lists of features and fixes players most hoped to see before GW2 launches. The thread had some great ideas and suggestions for the developer team. Guild Wars 2 is looking very impressive even though it’s still in its beta stages, but there’s always room for improvement! In fact, many of these features are seen as almost necessary to some players.

We thought we’d post some of the ideas from that list and find out about other features and fixes the community would like to see implemented. Feel free to post your ideas in the comments section!

Player vs. Player is always a hot topic when a new game comes out. Arenanet has been talking about their player vs player in Guild Wars 2 for quite sometime and I decided to dive in and start to poke around their matchmaking competitive systems.

In Guild Wars 2 all inter-player battle takes place in a special realm called the Mists. Ironically enough, based on some lore digging and NPC chatter, the Mists are also the after-life (uh-oh). There are two ways to take part in player vs player while in the Mists. They are as separate and distinct from one another as PvP and PvE.

Check out some Ranger sPVP action with a Greatsword & Sword/Dagger pet builds. Trait build focuses on Toughness and Vitality to increase survivability. Using three passive signets. Warning: video is low res.

Video after the break.

Many players eagerly walked into Guild Wars 2′s first beta weekend unsure of what to expect. Some of these players found themselves surprised at the game’s difficulty level. For some, this surprise quickly turned into appreciation. Others were disappointed and frustrated. Opinions are always going to be widespread and varying in a beta event for a game of GW2′s size, but with the case of the game’s difficulty, some interesting opinions, critiques, and reviews surfaced. Which held water? I’ll let you be the real judge, but for now, let’s take a look at some of the beef regarding GW’s difficulty.

Arenanet’s Founder Mike O’Brien published a short blog on his comments on the continued Guild Wars 2 Beta.

At the same time, we’re also working on server capacity to make sure that we’re prepared for the even greater flood of players who will participate in the next Beta. To that end, we’ve announced a Stress Test on Monday May 14th to test some changes we’ve implemented. This 7-hour test event, which runs from 11 AM to 6 PM PDT (-7 GMT) is open to all players who have pre-purchased Guild Wars 2. The good news is that we’re not wiping characters for this test; we’re using the same build that we used in the first Beta Weekend Event, so you’ll be able to pick up right where you left off. For more information about the Stress Test, log in to the Beta Forums. Please join us on May 14 if you can.

Read the rest on Arenanet’s homepage and make sure you get in the game next Monday!

Source: Mike O’Brien on the Guild Wars 2 Beta

We’ll be conducting a stress test on Monday May 14 from 11 AM to 6:00 PM PDT (-7 GMT).

This special test event is open only to Pre-Purchase customers who have registered their accounts. With your help, we can conduct important tests and address some of the issues we identified during our first Beta Weekend Event. During this event, all you need to do is play normally with a new or existing character on your Beta account using the same game client. Please note that since this is a stress test of our servers, you may experience some in-game performance issues. If you’ve pre-purchased Guild Wars 2 and wish to participate in the stress test, we recommend that you register the account and download the game client.

Pre-Purchase customers, log in to the Beta Forums for more information and/or to download the Beta client if needed.

https://forum-en.guildwars2.com/forum/stress/news/Getting-Started/169235

Having issues logging in? Contact Support: https://support.guildwars2.com/

Guild Wars 2′s Gem Store is one of the most debated topics for curious, prospective players. It’s easy to understand why. Many “free-to-play” MMORPGs offer similar shops, usually known as cash shops or microtransaction shops, and some of the items sold end up severely impacting the game for all types of players. The term often used for these games is “pay to win”, and it’s fairly accurate in most cases. The players with the most shop-bought items generally end up at the top of the food chain, which is unfair for everyone else. The notion of GW2 going this same route leaves a bad taste in many gamers’ mouths.

But will ArenaNet go that route? Many other games have made microtransaction shops that don’t contain items that have such a huge impact on gameplay, and merely contain novelty, vanity, cosmetic, and collectable items. And let’s face it, shops like this do well in popular games, because players love items that bring character to their characters. Character is good in MMOs. Unbalanced godly items are not.

Last weekend we finally got a chance to take Guild Wars 2 for a spin and in turn talk about it! We love when near-to-release games drop the NDA because we finally are able to get our hands on the game and then discuss it with the community at large. Guild Wars 2 is not like any MMORPG released on the market. Sure you have fireballs, swords, and dragons, but the way you play the game is entirely different. You are no longer competing against other players for quest objectives. No longer are you strung out going from quest hub to quest hub doing a laundry list of inane things.

In Guild Wars 2, you are no longer playing a meta game of quests, you begin living in the world. Arenanet has created a game that moves. No matter where you are, the game could be doing something entirely different each time you visit the same place. With all that being said, let’s take a dive into what we loved about Guild Wars 2.

I love me some PVP videos. AurraTV on Youtube brings us some awesome 1v1 Warrior footage from the last beta weekend.

Footage of organized 1v1 duels recorded on April 29th, 2012 on Jade Quarry. Footage was pulled off my stream (twitch.tv/AurraTV) so quality isn’t as high as previous videos.

We had to use empty Conquest servers as private servers were not enabled at the time. Some duels were interrupted by other players who didn’t know/care that we were dueling, and the battleground timers.

Check it out.

Forbes gives us their impression of the last Beta Weekend Event, check it out:

The remarkable thing about this is that none of this gameplay was forced. I could follow the plot, ignore it, or catch up to it later, and I didn’t have to coordinate with other players. What I liked even better: Everyone who takes part in completing an objective gets some credit proportional to how much they contributed. Do well, and you’re rewarded with a gold medal when it’s all over; turn up halfway through, and you might get a bronze or nothing at all.

Those NPCs I mentioned above? They’re quest givers, sort of—except it turns out GW2 doesn’t roll that way. You can participate in an activity just by turning up in the area it’s located and throwing in with whomever happens to be there. The NPC is there to give the activity a purpose (usually, the objective is to help the NPC), and to give the player extra information and background if they want it—but you can also just ignore them. No need to talk to them to start a quest, no need to talk to them later to end it.

Source: Guild Wars 2: First Impressions of the Beta

Last weekend we finally got a public look at Guild Wars 2 over their first Beta Weekend Event. The game was available to everyone who pre-purchased the game. We took the time to create a series of videos detailing the starting experience of Guild Wars 2 in the first few levels. We’ll be giving you the basics of game as well as a few tips. Our first video shows the tutorial section of the game and we go over combat and the basics of learning weapon skills. Keep your eye out for part two where we details the first portion of Queensdale a long with the first series of Story Quests.

Catch the video after the break!

The Guild Wars 2 Beta Weekend Event is nearly here! Gamers from around the world will finally get their hands on the game for the very first time. If you’re reading this, you are a GW2 Junkie, and you’re looking for an edge. We want to share with you a few tips that will help you navigate your way around Arenanet’s masterpiece of a game. Some of the systems in Guild Wars 2, such as leveling, combat and skill gains, are very different from what most players might expect. So, instead of spending precious time figuring out the new systems, we’re here to help you get through the learning curve as fast as possible, and get you to tearing down walls in the Mists of World vs. World.

Keep reading for a full range of tips from character customization, to learning what your profession can do.

G4TV gives an awesome preview of some World vs. World action in the video above a long with a full article that gives you all the details of a full siege.

Anyone can join in on the WvW battle and several GW2 game designers have stated that WvW should act like a stepping stone for those players who are interested in learning about PvP but not quite ready to jump in to the competitive side of things.

As you enter in to World vs. World, regardless of what level you actually are, you’ll be scaled up to level 80. You’ll retain all of your skills, abilities, and armor, but it will all be scaled up to level 80. This is different than in competitive PvP where everyone is given the same gear, and all of your abilities and traits are unlocked.

What this boils down to is that if you’re a level two player fighting a level 60 player in WvW, the level 60 player will have a huge advantage over you. They’ll have a variety of skills and better gear than you do, even though you’ve both been scaled up to level 80 in the environment. In competitive PvP, everyone is on an even playing field, but that’s not the case in WvW.

Source: Guild Wars 2 World vs. World Preview — Realms at War

We have another developer’s blog givings the rules of switching worlds, and how the whole system works. Players will be able to play and transfer to different servers at will. While all players will have a “home world”, you will be able to guest on any server that you want to play with friends. Server transfers are available once a week for a fee.

While you can change your home world, there is a limit of one world transfer every seven days per account and a charge of 1,800 gems for each transfer. A world transfer moves all of your existing characters to your new home world. Any subsequent characters you create will also play in this new home world.
When Guild Wars 2 launches, you will also have the option to play with your friends on another world with our free “guesting” feature. With guesting, your characters can play on any world where you have friends—with certain restrictions. For instance, you will not be able to participate in WvW while guesting.

While home-world selection and world transfers will be available during our Beta Weekend Event, guesting is not currently available. All players will be able to receive 2,000 gems free for the Beta Weekend Event, so you will be able to purchase a world transfer if you find yourself in need of one. Since the limit is one transfer every seven days, you’ll only be able to change worlds once during the Beta Weekend Event.

Source: Choosing and Transferring Worlds in Guild Wars 2

Keep reading for a list of the servers for this weekend’s Beta Test Event.

Hello fellow Junkies!

When we attended PAX East last weekend we happened to get a few cards that gave us beta codes to use for this weekend! Now, there really is no need to be jealous, because we’re not bragging. On those cards, they gave us extra codes to give to our friends. To get a shot of taking home a code for this weekend’s beta, make sure to follow us on twitter and give us a shout-out, “Hey @GWars2Junkies, I want to get into #GuildWars2 Beta Weekend!“.

We’ll select winners at random, but also making sure you have enough time to download the game and get started!