Every week on Friday, GuildMag rounds up all the community articles into one big post on their site. Here on my blog I like to pick out my favourite articles of the week to share with you and add in a couple of my own links. This week had a lot of information about the latest patch released on January 28th but there were also a steady stream of articles on other topics.
Official News from Arena Net
Arena Net has a number of blog posts up on their site explaining the changes to the game with the new patch. The first blog post discusses the new items in the gem store through the voice of the character Even Gnashblade. Matt Wuerffel, one of the game designers, describes the new rewards and achievements systems, Robert Hrouda, content designer, writes about the current and upcoming changes to dungeons, Jonathan Sharp, the "pvp guy, discusses Temple of the Silent Storm week, Angel McCoy, narrative designer, talks about the Living Story, Martin Kerstein, Community Manager, explains the upcoming required password change, and finally, Isaiah Cartwright, lead game designer, outlines the changes to the dynamic levelling system. The developers have also been busy on the forums and I recently rounded-up their post patch posts here.
Arena Net's communication to the player base has improved a great deal since launch. The only thing left for Arena Net to get write is the timing. A good number of players did not understand the subtle, ever growing nature of the living story at first. A lot of us expected to have new events the day of the patch and new story to explore. A better explanation of this system before it was release would have helped.
Relics of Orr - Shotgun Interview
A quick interview was posted on Relics of Orr. Ten questions were sent in to Arena Net and ten answers were sent back. The questions range a variety of topics from achievements and home instances to magic find and Zommoros My favourite question concerned the addition of more activities to the game specifically Bar Brawl. "The Bar Brawl is the next activity that we hope to be releasing in 2013." The article goes on to describe the event as a free-for-all fisticuffs match. Achievements for Bar Brawl have already appeared in game on under the activities tab where we can see the ultimate prize for participation in this activity is the titled, "Bouncer". A title that will surely bring your characters respect across Tyria. Head over to Relics of Orr for the full interview and the answers to the other questions.
Project Tyria - Lion's Arch Photos
A series of brilliant photos has been posted up on Project Tyria. Actually, there are two amazing series of photos. The first compares Lion's Arch as depicted in Guild Wars to as it exists now in Guild Wars 2. For those not in the know Zhaitan awoke in the year 1219 AE according the the Guild Wars 2 lore. When he awoke Orr rose from the depths of the seas creating a large tsunami which destroyed the Lion's Arch. In Guild Wars 2 it is now 1325 AE over 100 years later. Project Tryia's first series of photos directly compares various districts and areas of the city in the two different times. It is fascinating and worth a look.
The second series of photos shows the ever changing fountain in Lion's Arch since the launch of Guild Wars 2. I have a number of shots of the fountain but my collection is no where near as complete as Project Tyria's. Head over and check it out for a bit of nostalgia.
Many Laughs - Are Black Lion Keys worth buying?
I have never been to this blog before reading this article but I may have to keep going back as this one is a good one. The author of this blog, titled manylaughs, takes an in depth look at Black Lion Keys and discusses whether they are worth buying. He looks at how to obtain them, their costs, and the rewards and comes to a solid conclusion. For the answer you will have to go read the article though.
Guild Wars 2 Trading Post - On Failure
Markco at GW2 Trading Post has a short but important article on learning lessons from your mistakes. When you are trading on the TP it is important to not only make notes about the items that you had success with but to also note your failures. "Identify why something did or didn't sell and you'll start learning how to improve on the GW2 trading post." This is the kind of simple genius that you can expect from Markco and why I read his blog on a regular basis.
Dulfy - On pretty much everything
One site has started to become the go-to place for information on Guild Wars 2 when a new patch is released. No one seems to have more accurate information up faster than Dulfy. She does an amazing job and is a credit to the community. Since the release of Flame and Frost Dulfy has been busy accumulating everything we need to know. Be sure to check out her articles on the Volunteer Achievement, Daily Achievements, Laurels, Ascended Amulets, Orrian Jewellery Boxes, New Orr Temple Exotics, and Legendary Weapon changes.
Shoddy Cast - Onyx Lodestone Farm
The Shoddy Cast has an excellent video on farming Onyx Lodestones in Orr. It is a farming route that I have not tried as of yet, but it looks promising. Just remember to take into account the fluctuating prices of Lodestones on the trading post before you commit time to this farming path.
Matt Visual - Flame and Frost Overview
I have been following Matt Visual on Youtube for a while now. He creates extremely entertaining videos about Guild Wars 2. Although he does not post as often as others his videos are of exceptional quality. This week is no different as he puts together his best video yet reviewing the Flame and Frost patch contents.
Dontain - Three videos on Flame and Frost
One of my favourite Youtubers is Dontain. He plays a number of games on his channel but always comes back to Guild Wars 2. This week he put out three excellent videos that I believe are worth sharing. Firstly, is a video about the volunteer achievement and how to obtain it. The second is a discussion about items in the BL TP and what Arena Net should be selling. There is also a dancing Quaggan in this video that is must see material. Finally, is a video about the Orrian Jewellery Boxes something I have yet to discuss here. Anyway, head over to his channel and check out his videos.
~~~~
That is all for this week. Don't forget to head over to GuildMag for the full round up of this weeks community articles. Let me know what your favourite community article was this week in the comments below. Is there a topic you would like to see covered more? I am always looking for article suggestions and would love to hear your suggestions.
No comments:
Post a Comment