Huh, that’s awesome. I was wondering how people found groups for dungeons. I’ve not done a single one yet…and I was just starting to think about getting this GW2 monkey off my back.
The problem with implementing a LFG tool is ArenaNet is going to have a hard time making it as convenient and efficient as gw2lfg.com. :)
Granted, you have to alt tab to a browser window or open it on another device (I use my iPad). But it’s easy as can be to sort by the dungeon you want and, since it’s all cross-server, you’ll almost always find someone setting up a group.
-Tom
GW2LFG is particularly good for finding a replacement if someone drops from your group partway through a dungeon run; depending on how ANet’s in-game tool works, it may not be useful for this at all.
I reached level 400 in artificing this morning! Made myself a sweet Rampager’s Pearl Quarterstaff, too; now I just need to find a good skin for it, though I doubt anything will come close to Final Rest.
Klaatu
5744
Gratz on the 400, that’s quite a feet. If I got the mats, do you think you could whip one of those staves up for me?
They just announced a new patch for World of Warcraft (note: World of Warcraft!) called The Timeless Isle. Some key features:
Once you’re on the Timeless Isle, it’s open-world adventuring at your own pace. There are a couple quests on the island, but they’re not going to tell you exactly where to go and what to do. Instead they exist to encourage you to explore caverns, discover underwater grottos, and battle all manner of frightful beasts for great rewards.
…
As this is an open-world experience, everything except the raid bosses (more on those below) is designed to be taken on solo. See a level-93 Elite? Attack it! Depending on your spec and gear it may take you a while to whittle down its health, but your ability to skillfully play your class and dodge attacks can lead you to victory.
…
While the Elites on the island are standard “group-tap,” all of the Rares are “no-tap,” so if you see anyone fighting them, even someone from the opposite faction, you can join in and both benefit from bringing it down. Everything on the island also drops something unique.
…
There are also a ton of new achievements for doing just about anything and everything on the island.
…
To support the process of exploration and discovery on the Timeless Isle, we’re also introducing something we’re calling the Event System, along with some new UI elements. The Timeless Isle is filled with rare spawns, rare Elites, chests containing epic loot, and events that are all highly rewarding. When you find yourself in close proximity to any of these, you’ll see them pop up on your minimap, denoting their location and event type. Some won’t be simple to get to or easy to find, as many parts of the island are entangled with puzzles lost to time. Some involve more than a simple alert . . . but we’re not going to spoil the surprises, and we’re really looking forward to see how quickly players can unlock the island’s mysteries and hidden treasures.
An open-world experience without quests, rewards for exploration, world bosses that can be done with ad hoc groups, events that pop up on your minimap when you are nearby…these all seem oddly familiar for some reason.
Wolff
5746
Sorry zones I’ve ballooned.
That’s awesome! I would love to think that Guild Wars 2 is doing so well that even developers like Blizzard are casting jealous glances its way.
-Tom
I would speculate that this new area is a testbed for implementing these features on a global scale (or at least an expansionwide scale) for the next expansion. I imagine it would be hard for WoW players to get past the “!” questing system though.
WoW has tended to copy successful features from other MMOs and UI mods all along. Just one of the reasons it’s remained on top.
So…now that I’m 80, now what? I tried some WvWvW, and I didn’t find that real fun…a lot of zerging, mostly. I’ve only gone on one dungeon run so far and I wasn’t blown away, but I do plan to try a couple of others. Grinding for a legendary weapon seems kind of ridiculous. I wouldn’t mind getting 100% map completion, but I’m not in any hurry really, and I’m pretty burned out on heart quests. What am I missing about endgame that I should be trying?
Not that I’m complaining. I’ve gotten a couple hundred hours for my $40 and I’ve enjoyed them for the most part.
Gedd
5752
That is a cool graphic. Definitely should been proud of what they’ve done.
Not sure if you picked the game up yet, but there is a free trial coming up next weekend (23rd-25th):
https://register.guildwars2.com/trial
LockerK
5753
Guild Wars 2 is claimed as the fastest selling MMO ever:
The game IS the endgame. Other than visiting high-level areas there’s nothing you can do at 80 that you can’t do at 20.
For my part, I’ve done 100% map, finished the personal story (twice!), and am working–slowly–to a Legendary. I NEED that icon filled in on my login screen dammit! I still keep meaning to try all the dungeons and never get around to it.
Nowadays the Living Story content brings new things to do every two weeks. (In the old days, a few months ago!, we didn’t have all this fancy new content! You kids get off my lawn!)
So my favorite band broke up today. I kind of feel like my dog just died. I decided to just go buy a game to drown my sorrows in. This was on sale on Amazon and it was something I was on the fence about for a while (mostly the price) but I was like “what the heck.” Bought it. Is there a server that most Qt3’ers play on? Is there a race/class combo that would give a better newb experience than others? Any friendly tips or pointers for somebody who is still in the process of downloading/installing the game?
Sorry to hear about your band. :( But Guild Wars 2 is a perfect place to drown your sorrows. Firstly, roll up a character on Ehmry Bay. You can guest with us wherever your character is, but if you ever want to do world vs world with us, you need to be on the same server. As for your question about class and race, I’d invite you to just go with whatever grabs your fancy as you’re working your way through the stages of character set-up. Guild Wars 2 is designed in such a way that each class feels distinct, flexible, and uniquely able to contribute to a group.
Personally, I love my necromancer, I’ve had a grand time with my engineer, but I’m currently fascinated with my new mesmer. So just grab whatever tickles your fancy.
Be sure to post your account name and we’ll send you a guild invite. The format is accountname.####.
-Tom
Giaddon
5757
Play a human or Sylvan thief.
Why? You’re going to have to sell me on that one. Thieves/rogues are typically fairly low on the list of classes I’m drawn to.
Since Giaddon can’t back up his recommendation, I’ll do my best, even though I’ve never played a thief in Guild Wars 2. My friend is not really much of a gamer, but he took to Guild Wars 2 like gangbusters. He rolled up a thief. He really loved some sort of move where you stab an enemy with two daggers and then flip over its head and stab it again. He loved that move. He wouldn’t stop telling us about it. “And then you flip over its head and stab it from behind,” he would say, like it was the punchline to the most amazing joke anyone ever told.
So, yeah, the thief. That’s all I got to sell it.
-Tom, necromancer, engineer, mesmer, and even guardian, but not a thief
