Brought to you buy the CONSORTIUM!!!

Well it looks like our mysterious new building in Lion's Arch is home to the Consortium - self proclaimed rival to Lion's Arch.  The building is now a marked point-of-interest and numerous NPCs are roaming around.  The guards will tell you nothing...literally, they tell you they shouldn't be talking to you. 

Then there is Blingg.  Talk about a name being an understatement!  He has the following to say and he doesn't reveal much as of yet if you talk to him.

If you go inside the only open building this charming woman is there but again no real information on what they are selling or doing, etc.

Not to far from the gates, there is a spunky Asuran researcher named Levvi (a name allusion to something that is about to break loose, hmmm) who is raising a fuss about rising bioetheric measurements. 

If you go the Moran Memorial you will find ruptured cargo barrels washed up on shore, evacuation kits and crowbars lying around

There is jetsam all over the beach and then there is this...Was this always here in Lion's Arch?

So I decide to go underwater exploring.  You can't into the Sea of Sorrow outlet but you can go down to the very bottom below the anchored boat.  Umm. look what I found.

A crab-like midsection and what looks like two legs.  Holy Mackerel!  I bet its one of our sea monsters.

What is going to happen folks?  Mutant death crabs, three eyed mermaids, Jimmy Hoffa popping out of the water?  Who knows!

See you in Tyria!

It's the little things...

As I've played through the various personal stories of races and journeyed around I've have enjoyed discovering some of the amazing details ANet has woven into the game.  I wanted to share a few of them.

I made a female charr elementalist - I wanted to try it out and see if I like the character combination.  I made her an Ash Legion member and as soon as I could I jumped into her personal story.  I do not want to give away the plot so I'll just say she goes under cover.  It is important to remember, flame legion does not allow females to be part of their forces so being a female trying to infiltrate flame legion poses a challenge.

Now what is amazing to me is ANet wrote two separate scripts depending on the gender of the charr. A male charr goes up to a sentry and give the pass word and the sentry let's him in after some short dialogue.  On the other hand, the female charr talks in a fake low voice that is just hilarious and the sentry responds, "Whoa! Do you have a cold or something?"

Her response:

I love it!  They took in to account there would be both female and male genders and how it would play against the flame legion.

Here is another example.  I've noticed when you click on another character, be it NPC or another player's, your character's head moves to keep focused on their face.  Take a look at the following picture.

 My guardian is looking up at her, focused on her face.  Now lets see what happens when you look at someone shorter than your character.

Here my character is looking down to focus on the shorter sylvari's face.  Little unnoticed details that we take for granted but really add a unspoken realism to the game.  Want another example?  You know you do  :)  Put your character near some bushes.  Walk through them or shoot through them and see what happens.  They move!  They respond to the character and what it is doing.

Finally, this little gem.  In GW2 a player can wonder around any open house or building and talk with the NPCs inside.  Sometimes you get a story, info, something funny or just general chit-chat but shouldn't it strike people as an odd thing that you are wandering around their home?  Well this guy thinks so!

I laughed so hard at this when I first experienced it.  Especially the treasure answer because the old fella doesn't have much in the house.

Keep your eyes open as you explore Tyria.  There are so many little gems that are right there in the open that add to the enjoyment of the game.

See you in Tyria!

FLAMING SWORD of DEATH!!! or why I love elementalists.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have to give a heartfelt thanks to our brothers and sisters of the elemental persuasion.  I know they wear few articles of clothing, something about keeping in tune with their elemental nature or some hippie stuff like that, and sometimes they smell like burnt fur - sorry charr bros, its true and by Smolders left eye it stinks!  And it is funny to see a flaming lettuce head running for the water.  Why doesn't he just "attune" himself to water and put it out?  I don't know.  But in spite of all that small stuff you all are so important to me.  You know how to treat me right, you know with the combo fields and boons, but there is one thing above all that just really tells me you love me...

FLAMING SWORDS OF DEATH!!!!!!!

To savor the full awesomeness of this picture please click.

You all are AWESOME!!!! Right here bro, c'mon.  Gimme a hug.  I love you man, I do. /sniff.

Sincerely,

Expiatus

Halloween - GW2 Style

Ex post facto Happy Halloween greetings to everyone!  I hope is was enjoyable.  My family always enjoys visiting all the neighbors, dressing as a favorite hero or character and spending time with friends and family.  I also had the double delight to experience the first Halloween celebration in GW2 and did I ever enjoy it. 

Note:  This is quaggan dressed as a charr.  Good costume!

Lion's Arch was decked to the nines!  I was amazed at how much it had changed.  The seahorse statues replaces with gargoyles, the hanging bat laterns, the carved pumpkins, the knarled trees, the lion fountain that deteriorated over time, lil asuran and quaggan trick-o-treaters and the genie's hang out converted to a huge glowy cauldron!  It was a huge visual feast and folks, and that's just the decorations in Lion's Arch.   In addition, there were two new PvP events that were a perfectly themed for Halloween: Reaper's Rumble and Lunatic Inquisition.  I only played Reaper's Rumble a few times but Lunatic Inquisition I played to death.  (did you catch the pun?  it was a good one)  I was the survivor more than a few times and when I played with folks who knew how to flank we defeated the villager soundly. 




That Asuran acid based cleaner may be a little too strong. 

Another thing I enjoyed was the staged feeling.  The story was presented in acts as a if players where watching or participating in a play.  I guess one could say it was a tension builder.  eerie doors appeared, Lion's Arch mysteries, a ghost appearing in the Krytan graveyard.  As things went on players could go in and explore the Mad King's lair and "Score ANet" for upleveling everybody to level 80 so everyone could enjoy the content.  In addition the slow destruction of the Lion's Arch fountain was a really creepy but intriguing invitation screaming for players to ask, "What is going on here?!" and I think it worked perfectly.  I have to add I like the fact that the fountain did not magically recover once Halloween was over.  An event happened, something was destroyed, something we liked but nonetheless its gone and something new will need to be put in its place.  It will be neat to see if if the fountain is just rebuilt or something different is put in its place.



Why does green glowy stuff  always mean dead things are involved.

I AM KING!!!  well, until I get KO'd.

Costume Brawl, oh how I loved costume brawl.  What an amazing idea-Comical PvP!  I loved the POW!, BAM!, KO! in comic caption form, it was like watching an ole episode of the 1960's Batman TV show.  My guardian was sporting a pirate costume and much fun was had by planting down a cannon and shooting everybody.  I think of everything that was available to us, I spent the most time doing Costume Brawl.




About the Clock Tower - didn't do it, didn't care.  I've read posts saying it was the worse thing ever to it was the beat thing ever.  I was having too much fun doing other thing.  





Some of my favorite lines -

Quaggan child dressed as a pirate:

Twick o'tweet! Twick o'tweet! Quaggan is piwating you! Give quaggan candy!

BooOOooty!  Quaggan will let you go now.  Tell everyone about the dwead piwate.

 

Asuran progeny dressed as a pilot and a cannibal looking for maximum candy acquisition:

Trick or Treat!  Fair warning, citizen.  It is in your best interest to give us all your candy.

Superlative!  Allow me to give you this bag.  It has unusual thingamabobs in it.

 

For Mad King Thorn jokes check out Shammanicmmo's video.  The audio is really low but it has subtitles.

 

If Halloween is a taste of what holiday events will be like, I'm going to be one happy person.  Below are a few screenshots to enjoy.

 

See you in Tyria!

Famil-Size Candy Corn!  You goin' down!

Fake door huh...drop me from 100 feet in the air huh...reeaaally funny Thorn.

Mad King says, "Wear flamming pumpkins!"

The Span redecorated.  The gargoyels were originally sea horses.

 

When Plastic Spiders Attack!

I'm working a late shift all week, 10:00pm to 6:00am.  Uhg is the best way to describe it.  Nevertheless, I get a moment or two to pop in and see what is going on in Tyria to celebrate Halloween.  Oh boy was I in for a treat!

Have daggers, will carve.

As I started wandering around Shaemoor with Zinjin, he's site seeing right now, I come across a pumpkin.  I can interact with it? Ok.  I hit "F" and Zinjin carves it with exquisite flipping  ninja like style.  Well that was fun and my sons got a kick out of it.  So I start wandering around toward the garrison so I can pick up a skill point or two in that area.  As I'm wading through the river area I spot some ore nodes on the map.  Off  I go to mine when I discover candy corn! 

Too much mining can contribute to tooth decay.

You can mine candy corn and it gives you candy.  If you eat the candy you get a 10% speed boost called sugar rush for about 5 seconds.  After the boon wears off, you get a sugar crash which reduces speed by 50%.  The debuff wears off in about 5 seconds or you can eat more candy to kick in another sugar rush.

Obviously creepy door that must be investigated. 

I get my two skill points, help out the Seraph and then I see an erie looking door in the middle of a field.  Spooky looking door, obviously in the wrong place, sure to have something sinister behind it...LET'S CHECK THIS OUT!  BUT, it vanishes before I can get to it.  Grrr.  So now I'm really curious as to what that door holds and then my keen eye boys spot one in the distance.  I run across the lumber yard, dive in to the water, swim as fast as I can all the time with one of my sons finger hover over the screen shot button.

plastic spider - "Made in Cantha"

I get to the door and open it.  The inside just looks like an odd spacey scene but before I can fully view it something jumps out at me.  A plastic spider attacks me!  Yes you read that correctly, a plastic spider.  Okay, having a large spider attack you is creepy enough, have a large toy spider is just shivers creepy!  For a 40 minute stint of play it was full of surprises, but can Anet offer more?  You bet they can!

Okay, what exactly is thick air?

Well, well, well.  Look who is hanging around the graveyard in Shaemoor, next to the Grenth priest no less.  I spoke with this spook but just got what you see in the screen shot.  The GW2 wiki lists some dialogue I did not see, reference here.  Maybe I need to be a higher level.  Either way I think I need to visit Lion's Arch and do some investigating.  Halloween is going to be fun in Tyria. 

I just want to make one final observation.  I was not driven/guided to any of these things I just wrote about.  No NPC said, "You must go here and talk to person X, blah, blah blah." in an effort to get me to do anything halloween related.  I just let my curiosity take over and it led to some fun moments.  :)

See you in Tyria!


Meet the Krewe, or Warband, or group....

Who am I?
I'm a large anthropomorphic cat with horns and really good hearing!  I'm a naked erudite mole rat with shark like teeth!  I'm an underwear model that always looks perfect no matter what the environment!  Check me out.

When you are in Tyria, look for the following rascals and drop me a wave.



Ralvon Scorcher - Charr Engineer extraordinaire and twice meat festival BBQ champ.



Expiatus - Krytan Guardian who sports a mean beard.  



Zinjin - Asura thief, gun maker and part time architect.



Zonian - Asura warrior, gem broker and raises exotic birds.  Also, the last jotun who cracked a short joke at him is now two legs shorter.


See you in Tyria!

 

Many Pieces Make a Whole Picture

Do you listen to music by hearing the first 10 seconds and then fast forwarding to the last 10 seconds?

When you have time to sit down and watch your favorite movie do you enjoy the first part of the intro and then fast forward x8 to the credits?

Most likely not.

Now these may seem like strange questions with obvious answers but there are a number of players who play GW2 in this manner. Now, this isn’t wrong but what usually follows along with this play style is players expressing concern or complaining even about the lack of story as they speed through Ascalon. As I talked about this in a previous post and as illustrated by Emmanuel on his video site, players need to approach playing GW2’s like you would listening to a great song or watching your favorite movie.

To illustrate this I’ll share a few experiences my friend and I had last night while playing in Ashford Plains.

We started wandering around Duke Baradin’s Estate, just exploring to see what would happen next. We came across a number of events, we especially loved the harpy attack and the following fried chicken jokes as I ran around with my Charr engineer, flamethrower in hand. As we wentaround  Ashford Forum we came across a downed female charr. We revived her and then she explains that a catapult knocked her out. Reviving her kicks off an event where separatists, humans against the charr/human peace treaty, set up a road block with catapults and armed guards defending it. We engage, fight, win. Go our team!  Also, notice it took action on our part to start the event.  We could have just left her there and nothing would have happened.

At first view this looks isolated and singular. "Oh, we found a NPC which gave us a quest: check, done, yawn." But instead, look at it as a piece of a much larger puzzle. What is a separatist and why are they doing this? Why is this happening here? Part of the answers will come from talking with the scouts who explains those areas of the map. Other parts come from NPCs and events that occur as players move farther away from the more protected parts of Charr territory – the area closest to the Black Citadel. As players delve more into the world ANet starts revealing stories one piece at a time as players experience them. For example, after the road block, we talked to the scout. She points out, among other things, a small shipyard area that is having problems with separatists. Hmmmm.

We all live in a drab metallic submarine...

A submarine! These charr are building a full-on steampunked SUBMARINE! Okay, the ship ward is quite awesome already. We show up to a group of separatists attacking the sub trying to sabotage it. I don’t know what happens if you prevent it because we didn’t. Boom! Big hole in the side (which was cool since we could see the gears on the inside whirling around).  Now the sub needs to be fixed so off we go scrounging for parts littered across the lake bed. We turn in the parts and after enough the sub engineer dives down to fix it. Guess who shows up? Separatists and they are not happy we are trying to undue their explosive handy work. We defend the repair worker and drive back the separatists, who flee to an alcove on the other side of the lake and a charr follows them. I go over a talk to her and she tells me the separatist camp is in that area. I see one NPC setting traps or something.

Model # WHL-34

What happens next? I don't know. We both had to get to sleep so we stopped playing but I want to know what happens in that camp. Will there be more information about the separatists?  Why do they hate the treaty? Is Minister Caudecus behind them?  I'm pretty sure I will have to play through the whole area, I only have a few pieces of the story right now but I look forward to discovering the whole picture.





We just chillin

Hopefully I was able to illustrate how GW2 is more about showing players the story than just letting them read it in a log of text.  This was just a local story; imagine the ones using the whole world as its setting.  My friends and I have greatly enjoyed just following dynamic events just to see where they go and how they connect to other aspects of the world.  Take a curious moment and I think you'll enjoy it also.

See you in Tyria!

Burning Charr is Burning

A Sunday funny courtesy of my 13 year old son.

Jasmin Sparkles or My boys nearly barfed.

So one of my daughters wanted to make a character on GW2.  She'd made one on GW1, a mesmer BTW, and I thought it would be pretty fun.  We started with the races. My daughter's comments are in italics.

"How about the Charr?"
"No, they are big hairy cats."
"You don't like cats?"
"Not big hairy ones."
"Norn?" "Asura?"
"They look funny. They have no hair."
"What about the humans?" "The regular looking people"
"Maybe...who's that?"
"What?"
"Those guys on the end"
"The plant people?!"
"YEAH them!"  "Can I make one of them?" 
"Sure"

Now for a profession, well sword people are yuck, necros are too spooky, why would a plant play with fire and she liked the purple mesmer outfit (my daughter loves purple) but the Ranger won out because she could get a pet!  A big blue bird pet named Daisy. 

So ladies and gentlemen, without further Adieu I present Jasmin Sparkles -

We played around in the starting area, bought her a pretty bow, a Krytan bow.  (Tangent here. Man the Kryta versions of the low level weapons are amazingly detailed!  The Asuran are techno looking, Charr are steampunked but the Krytan versions are just fantastic.)

Now her older brothers wanted to know what all the hubbabaloo was about so they came over to my computer to see.  We showed them my daughters character and they, in eloquent boy fashion said, "BLEEECCHH!!!"  "That's soooo girlie!"  To which we replied, "Girlie and she can take down bad guys at 500 yards!"

It was so classic and my daughter is sooo very awesome.

See you in Tyria!

NOT Over and Out

When I Need to Take My Own Advice.

I had written that I was intent on letting this blog go.  It had become just one more thing to juggle and I had enough already.  It seemed for the past month I felt exactly like Bilbo's quote from the first Lord of the Rings movie, "Spread to thin, like not enough butter on too much bread."  But a few days ago two things happened, maybe three, that have me rethinking how I'm handling things. 

First, my wife, the greatest woman in the world by the way, told me I need to quit taking everything TOO seriously.  In the midst of a fussing 18 month old, a diaper change and some kids making weird noises I looked up at my wife and she was making the weirdest, contorted face possible and said in a "edjamacated" accent, "Don't yu wanna kiss me?"  I busted out laughing!  It was after that she informed me of my need to lighten up. 

Second, I read Siadina's post about Aly and I halting our blogging activities.  Aly's comments in particular struck a cord with me.  She described us a "positive bloggers".  We liked keeping things upbeat and really did not like to hit the critical cynical note every time we blogged.  Her comments got me thinking.  I'd never seen this blog in that light before.  I think, unfortunately I started seeing this blog as a drag because I was unconsciously attempting to be purposefully deep, or critical, or write something on par with Zubon, Syl or Melmoth. 

Folks, I just did a big post advising players to not take GW2 so seriously.  To just enjoy where it takes you.  I'm afraid I've been rather hypocritical.  I'm Zonian.  A guy who just wants to post what moves him at the time whether it be a funny picture or a semi-therapeutic blog entry /wink/.  I want the posts to be light-hearted and enjoyable.  I want folks to see how GW2 is something really different and will really grow as such over time.

So my apologies and I hope I don't seem wishy-washy.  I think now I'm refocused.  I'm not Over and Out, I'm over here in Tyria.  I will continue to drop a post every now and then as I find something amazing.

Sincerely,
Zonain


OH!  The third thing was I made a work bench in about an hour and a half.  It really cleaned up the garage which has been full since the minor basement flood last spring.  I love woodworking and love it when I jump into a project and it helped realize how much I enjoy it and miss doing it.

It's not the destination, its the journey.

Being a military guy I’ve travelled cross country quite a number of times. It could be duty related, moving to a new base or a vacation. I’ve driven from North Dakota/Canada to Alabama and back; from California to Mississippi; from middle USA Nebraska to Virginia and everywhere in between. If I add travel by flying it would look like spaghetti all over the map. The trips usual fall into two categories – time restrained or leisurely. Time restrained means I have to be somewhere by a certain day or time. They are usually stressful, rush-rush, eat in the car, sleep when needed and the main goal is – arrive quickly. I do not enjoy those trips. On the other hand, leisurely travel allows me to enjoy the varied terrain, the cities, the monuments, the weather, everything. The destination is important but not the full experience, why, even the travel itself is part of one long destination. I prefer the later form of travel.

 

Have you ever seen the St Louis Arch? It’s pretty amazing. A polished metal arch and if you see it a sunrise or sunset it shines oranges and reds. When I’ve travel I’m usually on I-70 or on the I-55/I-64 (Poplar St Bridge) depending on which way I’m going. It wasn’t until my kids were older and I pointed it out to them that I noticed how amazing it is. I’ve passed by it numerous times but still missed it. Another great hidden gem is the Mississippi Gulf Coast. You can fly right by it on I-10 but you’ll miss out on some great food and vistas. From BBQ to Creole to seafood, I don’t know why but the food is stellar. Of special mention is “The Bamboo” Chinese restaurant in D’Iberville, Mississippi. It has the best Chinese food…ever. If you take, I-110 to Hwy 90 you can cruise along the coast and enjoy the antebellum houses that survived Katrina, the wood sculptures in the center run of the highway, the beach and all its activity. I can go on and on about different locations since there are so many, but you get my drift.

“Hey this is a GW2 site, why the travel story?” Funny you should ask. There has been a lot of chatter regarding GW2 “endgame” and questing. It ranges from “it totally lacks traditional endgame e.g. raiding” to the quest hearts have no story/continuity. These observations surprised me at first. No end game, really? Maybe it’s because many people are conditioned to think max level is the end or the supposed real beginning of the game. For me, the whole game is design as one big end game. You can reach level 80 and still have only seen a fraction of the explorable world. As such, a player can go to an unvisited area, auto down level and experience all the vistas, quests, jumping puzzles, stories and world events it has to offer. In addition, they can acquire more skill points, karma and gold. To get to the end, if we want to use that term, is going to take a while.

 

In regards to quests and their stories, I have enjoyed the many multiple parts or inter-connections. After many events, players just need to wait or explore a little and a new event soon kicks off related to what they just did. Take the pumping station in Shaemoor, Queensdale. In this event, players can participate in one of two main events with multiple pieces. The first has bandits trying to poison the water. If players prevent the poisoning, they chase the bandits off, if not, a few things happen. Some villagers in the main part of town, will have a green poison skull icon above their head. If you talk to them they will complain about the water and direct you to the pumping station. In addition, many of the farms will have green globs, caused by the poison, making a mess of things. Players have to kill the blobs and deliver the goo to a fellow located near the pump station. After he has enough he can neutralize the poison. Also, if player’s character comes from the poor side of town, their personal story will hook into this particular event.

 

 The other main event has bandits trying to blow up the water pipes. In the first part, players have to stop bandits from blowing up all three water mains. If successful, the bandits run away. If they blow up one or more of the pipes a new event starts wherein the pipe repair personnel must be protected as they rebuild the pipes. If players fail, bandits infest the pipes and players have to revive the workers and push the bandits back, essentially a recapture. This event also has a relation to the middle class personal story.

 

I wonder how many players speed through any one of the many parts I just outlined.  If so, they don't even realize they have only seen a part of the event, a part of the story.  I imagine they are thinking it was fun but not too involving.  Maybe it's because much of GW2's stories are played out with player participating and watching it unfold.  Sometimes they need to something to move it forward, other times it just moves along.  It's like speeding past the St Louis Arch, I got a glimpse but did I really see it?    

 

GW2 players, a word of advice, take your leisure and enjoy the journey through Tyria.

 

P.S.

I found a great video by Emmanuel showing in game footage examples of how dynamic events' stories unfold and how slowing down can help players enjoy them more.  It is well done and worth the view.  His blog entry with the video can be found here.

 

 

Musical Echos from Ascalon

During the BWEs I was positive one of the the songs in the background music of Queensdale was either a song from the starter area music from GW1,pre-searing, or close to it.  The problem was as soon as I realized it was there it ended since the background music cycles through different songs.  Finally I waited until I heard the music and then recorded it with my kid's Bloggie.  It is not the exact same song but the musical similarites are striking.  Listen for your self and decide.

First, listen to the the song "Gwen's Theme".  This is the song that plays in the pre-searing Ascalon starter area.  Pay attention to the flute at the 30 second mark.

Now the Queensdale music from GW2.  Again, pay attention to the flute around the 30 second mark.  (The video is black since I was just recording the audio.  Also, my apologies for the sound quality.)     

This sounds amazingly similar, not the same...more like similar themes.  For me this is one of the many amazing ways GW2 ties into GW1, like listening to a familiar echo of the past.

Players and NPCs actually NOT getting in the way!

Uncoordinated Coordination

Not the event I'm describing but I needed a picture :)

I was exploring Shaemoor and had just passed through the Ettin pass. I made my way past a host of harpies and noticed a way-point down the hill, so off I went. After the way-point was discovered a familiar notification appeared - a world event was starting. I ran over on my human thief only to run into an ugly, over sized cave troll running rampant around the fields. a few other folks had engaged the nasty beast so I attacked it from range as others came in closer. Now here is where things become amazing. An asuran necro gets aggro, and goes down. A melee player pops a trinket/seal which ever and hit the troll hard so it turns to him. I and an elementalist kite around to the downed necro and revive him. We only get the necro to half when the troll comes storming back toward us, swinging hard. We both dodge out of the way, I stab the troll and shadow step backward. A ranger pulls troll-face off and we aid the necro and another elementalist that went down. Melee start hoping in and out, dodging, evading and range is pouring it on. If someone went down, two people went in to revive them while others distracted the troll. The troll finally goes down and there is much rejoicing. "TY"s and "GJ"s go out and everyone splits up. There were about 15 people involved in the event and none of us said a word to each other - we just simply worked as a team.  I continue to find this in GW2 event after event after event.
    
NPCs actually HELPING?!?!?

Playing in the Charr starting area I realized something about most of the NPCs, they actually interact with what is going on around them.  In the first screen-shot, I was cleaning up and organizing the scrap yard and I disturbed a Rust Ooze.  Notice in the NPC is shooting it.  The oozes are ornery lil' slimes that spit out a fire AOE and it hit the NPC.  He was none to happy about having his fur singed so he popped a cap into it-an typical charr response to solve problems with aggressive adversaries.

Now in the next screen shot you'll see a three charr iron legion patrol attacking a tar elemental.  One of the patrol members was downed and the two remaining are fighting.  The blue is a guardians shield spell.  They continue fighting until only one is left standing. 

I helped finish-off the tar elemental and once it was defeated the remaining charr immediately starts reviving the others and I ran over to lend a hand as shown in the third screen shot.  Oh the insanity but yes, some NPCs actually do something helpful.



This game is amazing!

:)

 

Dance Dance Tyria

Oh the videos are rollin' out! Interestingly one of the things I remember most about GW1 was the dance videos. Watching 30, 40, 50, people dancing in unison to techno was amazing.  How is this done?  Have everyone type "/dance *" then hit enter about the same time; the world server will sync everyone up.  So lest continue the dance tradition with a few videos.

Starting off is Starfleet Dental's dance video. I have to say I'm very impressed with the editing. To switch scenes yet keep the foot work in sync without any gapping takes time and good eye. I would have picked different music but that is just personal taste.

Here is Gangnam Style by Censtudios.  I really enjoyed watching this dance video.  Good locations, lots of sweeping camera passes, and just enough effects in sync with the music beat to spice things up. 

Now just because it is cool, a trio of Asuran sync dancing created by Gold Bro Studios.  It is a simple, straight-up dance video with some good music.  As I said, it's not fancy but getting to see a triple dose of Asuran poppin' & lockin' is choice.

Next up is NoX Oil Dance! by the guild Norse Oil eXpedition.  Though the camera work is very simple, it's a great example of how organized group dancing in a formation can look great.  Oh, did I mention they organized the dance ad hoc during a stress test?  Good stuff.

I hope you enjoy the videos.  I'm going to keep my eyes open for more amazing ones and will post more as I find them.  If you see any, drop my a line or post the ady in the comments section. 

Now all we need is an intese, Charr rock video and all will be right in the world. 

Enjoy!

 

Need a Quick Guild Wars 2 Guide?

If you have not had an opportunity to read Azuriel's post "The GW2 QuickStart Guide" over at In an Age you need to check it out.

He reviews number of ways you can improve your in-game enjoyment. He explains how you can get 10 - 20 fps by toggling some settings. He points out to improve keyboard control and did you know there is auto-looting! Did you know you can auto-sort your inventory? Do you know where all the Asrua city portals are? What about collecting materials for crafting? Azuriel has it all figured out.

Go by In an Age and check it out, you'll be glad you did.

Also, check out "How to GW2". It contains a roll up of posts touching class styles, community, GW2 basics, describing dynamic events, heart zones, navigating PvE content, etc, etc, etc.

See you in Tyria!

 

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Unanswered GW2 Questions...

How do Charr take baths?

How do Norn women shave? Why DON'T some Norn men shave...

Do unattractive mesmers have a skill called "Inebriated Vision"? Do they learn it from the local tavern goers, Han Ekin or Bud Miller?

What happens when Sylvari drink Miracle-Gro?

Do the Charr Legions have to do random drug tests on war bands for catnip abuse?

Is a narcissists favorite class the Mesmer?

If you kill a Sylvari is it classified as homicide or herbicide?

How bad is charr morning hair?

Did the great camel spirit blesse Norn women with sufficient fatty deposits so they could endure harsh environments on little food and water?

If a zombie eats a Sylvari, is it eating vegitarian?

How does a moose drop a magical rifle? What is it doing with a rifle anyway? Hunting Norn?

What is the ground speed velocity of an unladen Moa bird?

 

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Day One

How to  begin? I've read a number of posts talking about the impeding release date of GW2. They have reminisced about their experiences of GW1, the years of waiting when their was either feast or famine of information, or their plans of what they will do in the new game. I've enjoyed reading every one of those posts. They offer an insight into the thoughts and feelings of their respective authors. I'm one of those people who enjoys observing others. Not to judge, just to learn, to see, to understand a little more. However these posts started a thought in me. Why do I want to play? I'm almost 40, I have 8 children, I'm in the military and I'm amazingly busy. I'm not your typical gamer, well maybe now a days I am, but why, with all that is one my plate, would I want to play?



My new Asuran Mesmer, Zinjin.  The graphics rock!

I can't say I was a huge GW1 player. To be honest, I never got a single toon to 20. I played it when I had some spare time, it was a side game. In addition, all my friends were playing WoW so I was there with them during WotLK. WoW eventually soured on me-too much Skinner box for my tastes. The same happened to my friends and so we just played nothing. Then in 2010/2011, news of Guild Wars 2 reached my ears but it wasn't until I watched the "manifesto" that my interest really perked. I sent the video to my friends and we all started to get excited. GW2 promised to remove a large chunk of what soured WoW for us. We eventually pre purchased the game so we could get beta access and we've been blown away since then.

To be honest, we have not been to concerned about crafting, skills, who is OP or not, or even loot. We were having a blast and enjoying ourselves. GW2 will now be our "bowling night" activity if you will. This is important to me, to us. My buds and I talk about all sorts of this while playing. Our jobs, families, idiots, sports, or we just do something crazy and enjoy the moment. For example, we use to play devilsaur aggro tag in Ungoro crater and see who could survive longest; we'd easily spend an hour just laughing at how crazy we were being. It was great though because it was a stress outlet, and we all need one. This is why I'm looking forward to playing GW2. It's a moment to put yourself into a story, an adventure. You can be as brave or as cowardly as you want. You can be the king or the pauper. You can be with friends who are geographically separated or you can be alone. Steve put is best, "You can be anything that you wanna be."



The forge in Smokestead.  More art than machine.

So, today at 12:50 am central time I logged in with no problems at all. I made four quick characters to save my names and turned the game off. As I talked about in a previous post, my laptop broke and I've had to use the family computer. That computer is not a power house. It strains when the kids play Lego Star Wars so GW2 could possibly kill it. I will pick up my new rig today and after I have it all assembled and ready, then I will rip into GW2 in all it's visual glory. I'm not paying a subscription so my money is not going unused. To be honest, I've been able to play so much in betas and stress tests I feel my money was already well spent. I want to enjoy this game, not just play it, but enjoy it.


Update:  Got my new rig and HOLY COW!!!  GW2 is gorgeous!  I have all the setting maxed out and I still can't get over it.  I spent more time looking at water, floating particles, trees, and spell effects.  It is wonderful to just takeina game and pace it the way I want to.

Excellent job ANet.  Excellent job.

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The Big, the Undead and the Ugly

Look at the following picture-

More than just the Bone Napper!

 

No watch the the "Get Ready" video ANet released at the end of June. Pay attention at the 32 second mark.

Ladies and gentlemen, that is the BIG UNDEAD UGLY himself...ZHAITAN in the flesh. Well, other dragons' flesh...undead dragons' flesh I mean.

I took a few screen shots of the video just in case.

Maybe everyone else knew it was Zhaitan at the end of the video but I didn't. For me this is one of those, "Oh Sweet!" moments.

 

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