A Map of Possible GW2 Future Lands

“Guild Wars 2″ is a game that has a huge potential for expansion in the future.  Some of you may recall my excitement back in September of last year when I found out about the discovery of actual, in-game maps and globes that showed how large the world of Tyria actually was.  This was something that we never got a glimpse of in the original title, and although later I discovered that there were globes of the world available in places like the main base of the Order of Whispers, I had never paid attention to them before.

A good example of what the overall world looks like can be seen here.

Before I talk about the map above, I should point out that the globes the Priory has in-game are actually not complete at all.  They seem to be created by simply stretching the current, in-game map onto a globe, which gives a strange effect.  This is in no way canon because Elona, Istan, and Cantha, among other places, are not represented there.

On Friday, it was pointed out to me that a fan had come up with a map that projected where some future content would be.  This was accomplished by the fan paying attention to where currently sealed-off gates in the game could be found, such as the gates that lead into the Dominion of Winds or beyond the walls of Ebonhawke and out into the Crystal Desert.  But, what is really interesting about this map they came up with is the fact that they have estimated where some of the currently unused Asura Gates in Lion’s Arch might lead.  This was accomplished through noticing that the gates that exist point in the relative direction of where they lead.  Thus, the creator of this map looked at where the unused gates in Lion’s Arch were pointing and projected lines from there.  As we can see, one looks like it leads southeast towards Amnoon Oasis (from GW1), one leads in a more easterly direction, possibly to that area in the southern part of the mountains. Another leads off towards the Maguuma Wastes, one up towards Janthir, another up towards the north, potentially to the area north of Divinity’s Reach or even beyond there, and finally one leading up towards the frozen north, maybe where Jormag is at.

Very neat, if you ask me, and I think it is something that does show where the more immediate future of the game might take us!

Dungeon Fun in GW2!

Lately, I have been having a lot of fun in “Guild Wars 2″ really getting into doing dungeon runs.  Back when I was playing my Sylvari Ranger as my primary character I did do some of the Story Mode runs of the dungeons, but I never bothered to do any of then in Explorable Mode.  I must say that the explorable versions of these dungeons are quite a bit harder than the story ones and yet they are quite profitable.  Not only do you get special dungeon currency (unique to each dungeon, I should add) that you can spend on special Rare and Exotic armors and weapons, but you will get some neat drops and a bunch of karma along the way.  I’ve found that I can usually make about 1 to 1.5 gold per “path” through a dungeon (there are three paths in each, and with an efficient group we can do them in about 20-30 minutes each) and the equivalent to a full level of experience points.  It’s quite lucrative.

One neat thing about the weapons and armor, at least for my current main (a Guardian), is that they have stat combinations that you really cannot get anywhere else.  For example, in Ascalon Catacombs and a couple of the others you will have the option to get weapons and armor that have Power/Vitality/Toughness as the three types of stats.  The only other place for you to get that combination is in World vs. World by turning in badges of honor, but it takes an insane amount of those to get anything.  However, if you are looking for Exotic armor with those stats, you can find full sets at karma vendors out in Orr (just a friendly FYI).

I’ll be doing lots of dungeons going forward, I think, and I’ve really enjoyed it!  Anyone that wants to tag along at some point is more than welcome to – just toss me a line in-game!

With Wintersday wrapping up tomorrow, I will try to post something later this week about the fun I had with that series of events.  But, meanwhile, I’ll see you guys in-game!

“Death of a Dolyak” Player-Event in GW2

I always love reading little stories about people’s adventures and, particularly, player-run in-game events, and I have often found that these things are often magnified when you happen to play on a role-playing server in any given game.  ”Guild Wars 2″ has a rather thriving RP community on the Tarnished Coast server, so it’s nice to see people that like to run these events, and not just small-scale ones too.

Earlier this week, a particular little player-run event was pointed out to me, the summation of which is currently posted on Reddit.  In short, a player with the handle appledainty.8127 on the server was talking somewhat in-character about how she toils around with a dolyak, and another player mentioned wanting to organize a three-server marching parade with her on the World vs. World map and have it be like a minor truce.  Needless to say, this truce lasted all of a couple of minutes before quickly devolving, but it seems that it was (mostly) all in good fun and no one was terribly upset about it.

I’ve played games before where something like this happening would have spawned a lot of bitterness, so I’m glad this was taken with stride and people simply had fun with it.  It makes for a good read and certainly helps usher in the Holiday spirit of good will!

Wintersday Comes to Tyria!

Wintersday, one of the popular seasonal periods from the original “Guild Wars,” has come to the lands of Tyria in “Guild Wars 2!”

Wintersday, the second seasonal event to come to GW2, features the “Wondrous Workshop of the Toymaker Tixx” – a massive airship that serves as the toy shop for an Asuran inventor named Tixx.  Starting on December 15, Tixx begins his journey by visiting each of the major cities in Tyria and is scheduled to arrive in Lion’s Arch on December 20, where he will remain until January 3, 2013.  Tixx is being hosted as a guest in each city (and has been invited to be the guest of honor by the Captain’s Council in Lion’s Arch) where he will be making unique items for those players who approach him.  But, fear not: Should you miss out on one of his visits to a particular area, you will be able to visit him in Lion’s Arch throughout the remainder of the holiday and will be able to craft those objects you missed out on.

Other fun things of note for Wintersday include a special, magical area called “The Snow Globe” where you can participate in a special PvP snowball fight match or play an instrument in a holiday choir, a new jumping puzzle that is located in a special area of the Snow Globe, special holiday items for sale in the Gem Store, special random holiday events spread all throughout the game world, new crafting recipes, and a few other fun things!

As stated, you have through January 3 to enjoy the festivities, so, if you play “Guild Wars 2,” take your time and enjoy Wintersday!

Oh, and enjoy the actual Holidays too!

“The Gaming Goddess” Podcast – Season 2, Episode 10: “To Ascend or Not to Ascend?”

So, this is it, the end of our journey…For Season 2, that is!

Indeed, with Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, and all of the stuff that it all entails, I won’t really have gads of time to donate to keeping the podcast going in the meantime. Yet, if all goes as currently planned, “The Gaming Goddess” podcast will return for its third season sometime in late-January of 2013.

What will this new season be like? You’ll just have to wait and find out!

In the meantime, today’s episode focuses on the Lost Shores event in “Guild Wars 2″ that starts on November 16 and we are once again honored to have Mark Matthews (aka “Virtual Aristeia”) on the show to discuss it with us. We also talk about the fact that people seem upset that this new area and its new dungeon will introduce a new tier of gear at level 80 called “Ascended” – an obvious reference to GW1. These people feel it is either way too early to introduce more to achieve like that or they feel lied to about GW1′s whole thing about vertical progression.

And, of course, we even muse about possible Holiday events for the game!

If you would like the full quality MP3 to enjoy whenever you wish, snag it here:

https://www.onlinefilefolder.com/4sZ6WI1lnzv6Tt

A Teaser of “The Lost Shores”

For those not fully in the know, there is a major update to “Guild Wars 2″ coming on November 16, but what’s more, you can currently see hints of what all this will entail in Lion’s Arch now!  Yes, the city now has posters, new ships, some kind of travel office with nautical charts of the Sea of Sorrows, and an unactivated Asura Gate for you to check out.  The posters actually are very fun to read, and thankfully people have actually gone and translated them into English from New Krytan.

Fun times, eh?

To see some more information about this update and to see translations of the posters, check out this link here.

“The Gaming Goddess” Podcast – Season 2, Episode 8: “Thorny Situations”

Since this podcast was recorded on Halloween (October 31, 2012), I thought it was only appropriate to make it at least somewhat Halloween themed! Yet, still, I simply had to talk about the recent purchase of Lucas Arts by Disney and my own thoughts on that.

Once you get into the actual meat of the podcast, you can enjoy my random thoughts about the Castlevania reimagining that began with Lords of Shadow in two years ago in 2010, hear about the KickStarter project to recreate the original “Shadowgate” game, listen to me muse about whether or not a horror MMORPG is feasible to create (and no, I don’t think “The Secret World” worked out well), and hear about my fun with the Halloween events in “Guild Wars 2.”

Next week on the show we will likely have my good friend Ken Imbody come on to talk about “XCOM: Enemy Unknown” (released on October 9, 2012). After that we only have one remaining episode in this season (yes, shorter than the spring season!) due to the upcoming holidays!

If you’d like to enjoy this show in MP3 format, snag your copy here:

https://www.onlinefilefolder.com/4sokd0jXtV7K0o

Fun with the Mad King

I’ve been trying to take part in as much of the Halloween stuff in “Guild Wars 2″ as I can this week, and last night I finally got a chance to run the short Ascent to Madness dungeon with some friends of mine.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it turned out to be pretty cool.  Essentially, the entire dungeon is a long boss fight with Mad King Thorn that consists of several stages.  He will ask you to play little games like “Mad King Says” (in which if you emote as he says you will get the benefit of him summoning less baddies to the battle) and throw quite a few bad enemies at you, but with a good party you should be able to get through it with little trouble.

I also attempted the Clock Tower – a special jumping puzzle designed for the event.  I will admit, however, that despite the fact that the puzzle itself only takes two or three minutes to get through, it is very challenging.  I never finished it and the designer admitted that only 5% of people are expected to get through it.  Essentially you must quickly run your way up the clock tower, jumping from ledge to ledge and gear to gear, all the while being chased by this spectral acid that will draw you in if you get down into it.  It’s crazy, but it is fun and recommended for those of you who have not played it.

I also, with the help of a good friend, went through the scavenger hunt stuff where you explore Tyria searching for ghosts that tell you about the Mad King.  Presumably, information on his reign was largely lost in the flooding of Lion’s Arch, but suffice to say the ghosts don’t have too many good stories to tell you…None, in fact.  But for completing the hunt you get a special book that can be equipped in your “back slot” of accessories, and the one you get for getting all 12 locations is quite nice!

Meanwhile, enjoy some choice pictures of the dungeon and the clock tower!:

Halloween has Come to GW2!

So, Halloween has come to the world of Tyria, but this time the modern Tyria! Indeed, fun times await those who participate between now (technically it began on October 22) and November 1, with fun games, events, and specialty items to be had!  Oh, and of course, let’s not forget about the Mad King!

As you explore, too, you’ll find new ores like “Raw Candy Corn” that you can use to make specialty weapons and items and you will even discover foods that grant special boosts to you.

Beyond the Mad King, specialty items, and events, you’ll notice that some NPCs have been changed into ghosts or skeletons and Lion’s Arch is decorated appropriately for the season.

So, if you have GW2 and like Halloween, you should definitely hop in over the next week and check it out!

Watch the October 19 “Guild Wars 2″ Stream from Massively!

On October 19, 2012 I was invited by Jeremy Stratton, a member of Massively‘s “Stream Team,” to join him for an hour-long live-stream session of “Guild Wars 2.”  We spent much of the session running around the Straits of Devastation and discussing builds, gear, traits, and a few other things.  I’ve never done a live-stream before, but I have to admit that it was a lot of fun!

What’s more, the video was listed as being part of the set of streams being done for the site’s participation in the Extra Life charity gaming session over the weekend.  Cool stuff!

Anyway, since it was live-recorded and some of you likely were not able to be around to see it, feel free to check it out at the link below:

http://twitch.tv/massivelytv/b/336176364