Well, how much can each server hold? There's probably going to be about fifty playgrounders, max. Then if they get their friends to play, still only about two hundred at most. If servers can hold a thousand or more, I don't know how much it'll matter, as long as we get a server that currently has room for three or four hundred more people.
Saw the recent TB video and become VERY interested in this game. But before plopping down $130 for it (copy for me and my SO) we need to try it out. Is there a demo version or free weekends? Seeing gameplay online won't tell me how well it runs on my laptop, and I definitely wish to play with my SO. We played WOW for 2 months before turning it off over the "Every quest is collect 10 monkey butts" and "WOW, the world is completely empty and dull between quest locations."
Saw the recent TB video and become VERY interested in this game. But before plopping down $130 for it (copy for me and my SO) we need to try it out. Is there a demo version or free weekends? Seeing gameplay online won't tell me how well it runs on my laptop, and I definitely wish to play with my SO. We played WOW for 2 months before turning it off over the "Every quest is collect 10 monkey butts" and "WOW, the world is completely empty and dull between quest locations."
I don't think so.
And I'm not sure if you need two copies, or can just download it onto two computers with the right password.
But as for the world, Renown Hearts and Skill Point challenges are sorta like WoW quests. They have a completion bar on the screen telling you how close you are to finishing. But your personal storyline isn't, and dynamic events can be, but are less so (assuming TB means TotalBiscuit, in one of his videos there's an event where he has to help defend a Charr mill from Flame Legion Charr). In addition, you can do WvW right off the bat, where even a couple people without any siege equipment can be worth something (just kill the NPC guards in the camps and claim them for your side I don't recommend trying to take on a fort or castle, though, even with siege equipment). PvP is also doable right off the bat, and while it is repetitive, you can mess around with skills to see which ones you want to buy in PvE/WvW.
Also, I watched all of TotalBiscuit's videos a couple months ago. The news of a recent one means I'm now going to see if there are any new ones. His GW2 videos are good, you should watch more of them.
Also, favorite line. "There are no mailboxes, everything is delivered by carrier pigeon. I of course will be mailing the heaviest thing possible in order to completely shatter my immersion."
Saw the recent TB video and become VERY interested in this game. But before plopping down $130 for it (copy for me and my SO) we need to try it out. Is there a demo version or free weekends? Seeing gameplay online won't tell me how well it runs on my laptop, and I definitely wish to play with my SO. We played WOW for 2 months before turning it off over the "Every quest is collect 10 monkey butts" and "WOW, the world is completely empty and dull between quest locations."
If you pay attention to sales and what not, it won't be impossible to snag two copies for 80 bucks.
You will need a decent computer. A laptop bought for general use let's say two years ago will be running the game at the lowest settings, if even.
That said, get it. It's awesome.
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If you only want to do strcutured pvp and pve then a lowish end pc (gtx460, 4gb ram, AMD IIx2 250) is enough for medium details.
If you want to do wvw then you absolutely need a good processor (wvw is extremely demanding on your cpu),
For low details an AMD FX 4170 is enough
for medium details somewhere around the Intel i5 2500k
For max details you really need a current higher end cpu.
If you have a really good graphics card you may use a cpu slightly under the specs but not by much.
Personally I was thinking a higher population world. Might be rough for the first month or so, but I don't want a server that might die after the initial start.
Maybe "Tarnished Coast"?
Last edited by Hullabaloo : 07-26-2012 at 12:53 PM.
Well, how much can each server hold? There's probably going to be about fifty playgrounders, max. Then if they get their friends to play, still only about two hundred at most. If servers can hold a thousand or more, I don't know how much it'll matter, as long as we get a server that currently has room for three or four hundred more people.
If there is a limit on 1000 people it means that only 42.000 can register on their current servers. I think Anet plans to have a larger player-base than that.
If there is a limit on 1000 people it means that only 42.000 can register on their current servers. I think Anet plans to have a larger player-base than that.
In these days, I wouldn't be surprised if they can hold 100,000. That would total out at 4,200,000.
But Hullabaloo, even if there's plenty of room, there's still the problem of mid- and high-population servers having lag, and having times where you go to overflow and your party members don't. So low-population improves gameplay anyway. Maybe a server that has a good amount of people, but still less than half the max.
But Hullabaloo, even if there's plenty of room, there's still the problem of mid- and high-population servers having lag, and having times where you go to overflow and your party members don't. So low-population improves gameplay anyway. Maybe a server that has a good amount of people, but still less than half the max.
In my experience 90% of lag is player side. Playing on high population servers in WoW, DDO, Rift (short period) and Rappelz, I've only had server side lag issues in Rappelz, a very poorly managed MMO. If a game like GW2 cant handle the load then I wont be sticking around long anyways.
But being on a low-population server in no way improves game play. Shouting for PUGs takes longer, less quality players, weak AH, economic issues and weaker PvP are all huge detriments for low-population servers. I would rather have the possible issue of lag (which would just be a marker that GW2 is not ready for primetime) then deal with the issues of a low population server.
That's where we were for the first two BWEs. In the last few days prior to the final beta they consolidated the servers to concurrently run it as a stress test as well. We ended up on Anvil Rock last weekend when Deldrimor got yanked.
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Spoiler
LLama says: Of course, the game would also have been more balanced if you all would learn not to trust Shadow
no matter what game he's in or role he has. Duos says: I've read the archives... and Shadow frankly scares the bejeesus outta me. It's like playing with a
hypothetical cross of Lex Luthor and professor Moriarty.
If he was made of SPIDERS.
In my experience 90% of lag is player side. Playing on high population servers in WoW, DDO, Rift (short period) and Rappelz, I've only had server side lag issues in Rappelz, a very poorly managed MMO. If a game like GW2 cant handle the load then I wont be sticking around long anyways.
But being on a low-population server in no way improves game play. Shouting for PUGs takes longer, less quality players, weak AH, economic issues and weaker PvP are all huge detriments for low-population servers. I would rather have the possible issue of lag (which would just be a marker that GW2 is not ready for primetime) then deal with the issues of a low population server.
Neither of those are going to be issues as the economy is worldwide (meaning cross server AH, etc). So the economy and AH should even out overall without much effort by anyone.
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Spoiler
LLama says: Of course, the game would also have been more balanced if you all would learn not to trust Shadow
no matter what game he's in or role he has. Duos says: I've read the archives... and Shadow frankly scares the bejeesus outta me. It's like playing with a
hypothetical cross of Lex Luthor and professor Moriarty.
If he was made of SPIDERS.
It's probably best to pick a world that has currently low population. Then we can all go there and invite our friends with not much chance of anything going wrong.
I don't see why lower population would be a good thing on an MMO...
Anyone tried a grenadier engineer? I'm kinda interested in that, but I can't find any vids of them. Is it a sign? :o
I did in the last BWE - grenade kid was the first utility skill I bought. From what I could tell, the basic grenade attack did a bit more damage up front than my pistol shot, but it didn't inflict bleeding.
The Conditions that I could inflict (Chilled, Poison, Bleeding, something else) with the grenades were roughly comparable to what I could get out of my pistols, but because all grenade skills are manually ground targeted AoE effects, I was able to spread them around somewhat more efficiently.
I found that the best thing to do was swapping between my pistols and the grenades for maximum effect. In a group situation, where the mobs weren't running at me trying to eat my face, I'd say the grenades were better (at least, until I got the Flamethrower. Gods I love me some Flamethrower action ).
The major question, though, is, "was it fun?" I can say that yes, yes it was. The grenades feel different enough for combat to still be interesting, and when you start throwing them around you'll be surrounded by explosions. I really felt like a mad scientist out in the field - it was fantastic.
Because the highest pop worlds were maxed out in the beta weekend.
Pretty sure you can expect much higher capacities at launch, though, given the higher populations that they know they'll need to be dealing with. Plus you need to think beyond the first few weeks; there are always going to be parts of the game that aren't cross-server, and all of those parts are going to be a lot worse the fewer players your server has.
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Revan avatar by kaptainkrutch.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cirrylius
That's how wizards beta test their new animals. If it survives Australia, it's a go. Which in hindsight explains a LOT about Australia.
I've pre-ordered this now as well. I actually played the first game for a couple years as well.
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ArenaNet is doing a final stress test tomorrow (August 2) from Noon to 4pm Pacific time (I wanna say that's GMT -7 right now). They will be working on the game throughout the testing, so things may be a little choppy.
Additionally, the ANet team has commented that, due to a bug, the game was slightly easier than intended during the most recent beta weekend event. Word is that the difficulty will be more on par with BWE2 for the stress test and when the game launches.
ArenaNet is doing a final stress test tomorrow (August 2) from Noon to 4pm Pacific time (I wanna say that's GMT -7 right now). They will be working on the game throughout the testing, so things may be a little choppy.
That's a HORRIBLE time to have a stress test! Everyone is going to be at work (I mean, not me I'll be at home playing GW2, but everyone else).
That's a HORRIBLE time to have a stress test! Everyone is going to be at work (I mean, not me I'll be at home playing GW2, but everyone else).
Europe will just have come back from work allowing Arena-net to do it on their own work-time (since they'reactively working on it during the test you know). Seems quite an excellent way of doing it.
A group of former guildies from DDO(and friends) of mind are setting up a guild to explore GW2 with, and we are looking for some like-minded people to join.
Basics of the Occasionally Excellent guild, server TBD
Pretty much age 25+, casual mature group, most CST and EST people. Some of us have significant others, and even a semblance of a life! We are committed players, but understand Life Happens. We are not going to force you grind out server first, but aim to play well, and enjoy it. Some of us play a few hours a few, some a few days a week. We have a mumble server that will be used a fair bit, and R rated language happens, although offensive language is not tolerated. Most importantly NO DRAMA and Treat others as you wish to be treated. We play games to have fun, leave the drama in RL.
If that sounds interesting to you, and want more information see our guild site at Occasionally Excellent. to apply or PM me here.
Last edited by Hullabaloo : 08-07-2012 at 03:08 PM.
We will be conducting a stress test on Thursday, August 9 from 12:00 Noon PACIFIC Time to 4:00 PM PACIFIC Time. (3 - 7 pm EST, 2 -6 CST).
We will be actively working on the game during the event, so you might experience connectivity problems or discover features that are not working as designed. Any issues you experience are a result of the rigorous conditions of the stress test, and are in no way representative of the state of the game at launch. By participating in this stress test, you’re helping us make Guild Wars 2 a better game. Thanks for your cooperation—we’ll see you in-game!
Gonna try to get on for the first time, might duck out of work early to do it:). Gonna test out the Charr starting area I think with a few Occasionally Excellent peeps :)
Last edited by Hullabaloo : 08-09-2012 at 09:58 AM.
I need a new game since both D3 and SWTOR have disappointed me. I have a couple of questions for those of you who might have spent some time playing the GW2 beta.
Is there a sense of exploration to this game? One of the things that really killed SWTOR for me was the fact that every new character you make goes to the same planets (there aren't very many of them) so you see those same planets again and again. It gets very boring and there is no feeling of exploration.
Second question, is combat challenging? I'm kind of tired of games that are too easy. SWTOR was so easy and I'm a rather casual player so if it was easy for me I can't even imagine how easy it must have been to hardcore gamers. I just want a game where I feel like I have to try.
I have Skyrim and it fulfills those things but it is lacking the social aspect.
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Sweet Batpony avatar by Kairaven.
I need a new game since both D3 and SWTOR have disappointed me. I have a couple of questions for those of you who might have spent some time playing the GW2 beta.
Is there a sense of exploration to this game? One of the things that really killed SWTOR for me was the fact that every new character you make goes to the same planets (there aren't very many of them) so you see those same planets again and again. It gets very boring and there is no feeling of exploration.
There's a lot of exploration. Many dynamic events are off the beaten path, as are many skill challenges. There's also cinematic events that were added in the last beta, called vistas, that are sometimes difficult to get to. There are also a lot of jumping/exploration puzzles that sometimes lead to interesting areas and boss fights. Though you don't have to explore, you'll want to explore.
There are also a lot of zones for multiple levels. Each race has their own starter zone, and there are several zones for each range of levels. You don't have to go to each zone, but if you don't you'll be missing out on story, events, skill challenges, ranger pets, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aiani
Second question, is combat challenging? I'm kind of tired of games that are too easy. SWTOR was so easy and I'm a rather casual player so if it was easy for me I can't even imagine how easy it must have been to hardcore gamers. I just want a game where I feel like I have to try.
I have Skyrim and it fulfills those things but it is lacking the social aspect.
Difficulty is something that is, as far as I'm aware, still being balanced. The first two beta weekend events were very hard, but the third was very easy due to a worldwide bug that has since been fixed.
There's also different kinds of difficulty. If you're good at dodging and avoiding damage, the game will probably seem very easy. Ranged characters also have a slight advantage over melee characters, but it's really only noticeable in large events or against large bosses that throw down one hit kill attacks with little warning (something they've said they're working on).
The highest lvl character I got during the bwe's was a lvl 18 guardian, and one thing I noticed was that lower levels (1-10) were pretty hard because you don't have access to all of your tools and there's often little margin for error in dodging big attacks. Around lvl 12-13 that started to change as I had access to utility skills, weapon swaps, etc. that allowed me to mount a more proactive defense.
Another thing, some events become ridiculously easy given enough people participating in them, even despite scaling. Others are challenging no matter how many people seem to be around. I think there's still a lot of fine tuning going on.
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