This Week in Guild Wars 2

Every Friday, Raphia at GuildMag goes through all the community articles for the week and rounds them up into one giant article. Every week I like to go through this list and pick out my favourites to share with you guys. The articles I pick out tend to compliment the content that I have here on my blog. I also try to sneak in some Red Posts and news from Arena Net that I may have missed earlier in the week.

Straight from Arena Net

Posted to the main Guild Wars 2 site was a new article giving additional details about the new PvP map called "Spirit Watch". The map is the first to bring capture the flag elements to Guild Wars 2 PvP and has a number of people quite excited.

Arena Net updated their February patch preview adding in that item previewing will be available through the trading post at the end of the month. I know I have been waiting for this since launch and will be happy to see it in game. Now if they can just get item effects to appear in the item preview everyone will be happy.

A lot of players have noticed that since the maintenance period on Wednesday that a number of their achievements are no longer displaying the correct numbers. For example, a number of my slayer achievements that were at 1000 and complete and now are listed at 999 and not complete. Stephane Lo Presti took to the forums to ensure players that this would be corrected in the patch at the end of the month. Still a lot of players are still confused as to how such a thing could even happen. More details from Arena Net on the cause of this would be appreciated by many.

Finally, the Guild Wars 2 community team shared this fan made video via twitter on Feb. 14th.

MMORPG interviews Colin Johanson

The crew over at MMORPG.com was lucky enough to get some of their questions answered by Colin Johanson. Topics discussed include: the new PvP map, the new daily system, guild missions, and the Living Story. I particularly liked the bits about guild missions and am starting to get more excited about this content release. Colin had this to say during the interview,

The system allows people in a guild to work together to unlock guild upgrades that allow them to go on missions together. These missions can be kicked off by the specific guild that has researched that mission, but once they are activated, anyone can jump in and participate to help the guild finish the mission if they wish. The missions are designed such that some components of the mission can only be completed by the guild themselves, but each of them has aspects other players can assist with as well, so everyone has something they can do during the mission.

This sounds great! I hope the guild specific components are strong giving more reason to be in the guild. For the rest of the interview and more from Colin Johanson check out MMORPG.com's article.

Guild Mag returns with Dynamically Spoken

This week was my first time listening to Guild Mag's podcast Dynamically Spoken. It seems they are back from a long hiatus to bring the folks of Tyria all the latest news. I really enjoyed their discussion of the various content coming at us in the February patch. They did not simply present what is coming but took the time to detail the good and the bad as well as add their own personal feelings. I will be looking for this podcast in the future. The cast is available as an MP3 and in the YouTube video below,

Guild Wars 2 Hub on Karma Farming

Guild Wars 2 Hub has an excellent article up on the best way to farm karma. The author, Lewis B, goes through the various items that give karma, the different boosts available, and finally, the best places to farm karma. I haven't seen a good guide like this anywhere else lately, so this comes at a good time. I still remember the days of farming the Plinx event in Cursed Shore all day long, but things have changed since then and new karma farming methods are surfacing.

Guild Wars 2 Trading Post on Player Purchasing Trends

When trying to make gold on the trading post the first thing that you need to know, in order to be successful, is what are people buying? Markco at Guild Wars 2 Trading Post has a short article on determining which items to flip based on the items players are most likely to purchase. For example, are players more likely to buy power based armour or condition damage based armour  The key is too look to your own play styles in order to answer this question.

If that wasn't enough Markco has another great article this week discussing when and by how much to undercut your competition. Some great discussions ensues in the comments on this one as well.

Taugrim on the state of the Engineer

This is my favourite article of the week and kind of makes me want to roll up an Engineer to play. Taugrim explores what many call the "weakest" class. He begins this discussion by pointing out that the Elementalist used to be thought of as underpowered, but now is seen as one of the most powerful. In his article Taugrim explorers the steep learning curve around an engineer and the vast array of abilities that they have. For his conclusions head over to his blog.

Hunter on Food

Hunter's Insight has a great post on food and potions in Guild Wars 2. Hunter goes through the different categories of potions and various food types and shows which are best for a given situation. He also provides cheaper alternatives to the more expensive choices. This is a great article for people like me who have not really explored what foods are available. I think I will have to diversify my characters diets.

Inventory Full on Kill Variety in Plains of Ashford and Server Pride

If you are ever looking to get your daily kill variety done in a hurry Bhagpuss at Inventory Full has your back. He has a great article this week showing you where to find 15 different types of enemies in Plains of Ashford.  While you are over there why not check out Bhagpuss's other article on server pride. Is splitting a game up across multiple servers a good idea? Did Guild Wars 2 get it right? Bhagpuss answers these questions and more on his blog.

Asura Dreams of Being Charr

This screenshot showed up on Reddit and I thought I would share. Is it the dream of all Asura to grow up to be as strong as a Charr?

AnEvilBag gets Jailed in Rata Sum

Do I need to say more? I saw this on Reddit and had to share. Basically a player, AnEvilBag, is exploring Rata Sum trying to get places he isn't supposed to be and ends up in jail for his crimes. Don't believe me? Watch his video.

Wooden Potatoes on the Living Story

This was my first Wooden Potatoes video and after this one I will for sure be going back for more. My attention was drawn to this after seeing a bump in traffic to my blog and tracing it back to a link from Wooden Potatoes. I am very happy that he linked to me or I would have never seen this great video for myself. Mr Potatoes goes through all the new content to be found in the open world added with the Flame and Frost patch.

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That is it for this week. If you have worked through all this and still want more be sure to check out Guild Mag's full round up here. What was your favourite article this week? Did I miss anything huge? Let me know in the comments.