Lots of Impressions and Videos are Coming

[Vejuz]

Quite of press outlets were let into the closed beta for about a week, and the embargo for impressions just lifted today. There are a toooooon of new videos, and the Mesmer was playable. Share with the group if you find a good one!

This little video is an overview of all the Mesmer weapon skills. ^_^



EDIT:

This Thread over on GW2 Guru has links to just about all the coverage, period:

www.guildwars2guru.com/forum/press-closed-beta-test-t27964.html

[pandalishus]

Why do the female gamers in these videos always sound hot? Is it just the female voice in general? Or do they practice it?

[trapsinger]

ON TOPIC: I read the beta impressions on Kotaku and on Massively. Massively had two. I found all three impressions to be informative, but if you are interested in graphics I recommend specifically watching the videos on Kotaku back to back with the video on Massively. Kotaku has three or so videos, taken with the graphics on high on a high end performance machine, and you can see that it's chugging just a little, and he comments on that in his review. Massively on the other hand has just one video montage with the graphics on a much lower setting. You can see immediately that the character models are much less detailed and blocky, but you can also see that the frame rate is way higher, and the motion is all very smooth.

Massively: massively.joystiq.com/2012/02/20/massivelys-guild-wars-2-closed-beta-impressions/

Kotaku: kotaku.com/5886430/ten-things-i-learned-from-the-guild-wars-2-beta-weekend


OFF TOPIC: I do think all female voices are pretty sexy, and that's just hardcoded into being male.

However I also suspect that if you met this girl in real life you wouldn't think she was sexy. I can sort of hear a tonal quality in voice that makes it sounds like she has a round face and chubby cheeks. it changes the way her consonants and vowels flow together. add that to her being a professional gamer at some level, and I expect she's over weight. yes i'm being rude and stereotyping, and i acknowledge there is a lot of guess work involved. Also i started out by saying she still has a sexy voice. so...yeah...try not to be offended.

it's also possible that all female gamers sound sexy because gamers tend to be more educated which changes the words they use and their enunciation, and this lady clearly has a high level of education based on her speech patterns. Also there is that basic quality that they are talking about video games, and get huge points for that.

[Vejuz]

Very nice impression article with a vid showing off some scenery.

massively.joystiq.com/2012/02/20/guild-wars-2-closed-beta-impressions-elisabeths-thoughts/

massively.joystiq.com/2012/02/20/guild-wars-2-closed-beta-impressions-shawns-thoughts/

Commentary interspersed with gameplay, and some raw footage as well.

www.gamespot.com/guild-wars-2/previews/guild-wars-2-inside-the-first-hours-of-the-beta-6350719/

Yoggscast Gameplay and Commentary



And most importantly, Guru's thread with all the coverage constantly updating.

www.guildwars2guru.com/forum/press-closed-beta-test-t27964.html

[Vejuz]

www.ign.com/videos/2012/02/20/guild-wars-2-world-vs-world-pvp

(WvWvW vid)

It's...it's the second coming of WAR RvR lakes*. It's....so....beautiful. o.o

Waaaaaaaaaaant!

*And as Jesus taught us, the second coming is always the better one.

[pandalishus]

And as Jesus taught us, the second coming is always the better one.

That remains to be seen...

[Vejuz]

Okay, this is the best WvWvW vid I've seen - about half way through they start t get into a real heated tug of war with another side.



@pand

You...you and your reasonable levels of hype... *eyes narrow*

[Grok]

I am almost speechless. This all looks so beautiful. I can not wait.

[Vejuz]

This one shows some functionality for guilds:

Some notable stuff:
- the UI is very informative - it tells you everyone's profession and trade skills via icons
- Guild emblems!
- Guild bank!
- Lots and lots of guild merchants
- Rift-style guild level up system with (apparently) 3 different "talent trees" - Officers spend Influence to get this stuff, which is gained by a guild member doing just about anything notable.



Also, it's recorded in glorious 1080p. Lookit the shiney!

[pandalishus]

Feb 20, 2012 18:00:36 GMT -5 Vejuz said:

@pand

You...you and your reasonable levels of hype... *eyes narrow*

Jesus' fault, not mine.

[pandalishus]

I'm excited, but it looks like a Gfx beast, which means I'll probably just have to experience vicariously.

[Vejuz]

This is a quote from an A-net dev off of GW2Guru:

Let me explain what an overflow server is and what it does. It is a technology we also use as our version of a queuing system. When a map or a world you want to log into is at capacity limit, the game will ask you if you want to play on an overflow server - so you can actually play while you are in a queue. Once space opens on your world, the game will ask you if you want to join your friends on your world. And you keep all the progress you made while you were playing on the overflow server.

Bolding mine.

This is joyous. Simply Joyous.

[Vejuz]

From I've been reading Pand, the graphics are highly scalable and some press people have gotten the beta to run smoothly on mid-power laptops. Unfortunately, they didn't specify what "mid-power" was. A.net has also said, repeatedly, that making the game run well on low end machines is important for any MMO. Not to say they couldn't fail in that, but it's clearly something on their mind.

[Vejuz]

I haven't watched them all, but some very HQ vids here:

www.youtube.com/user/JurianRaines



Ranger Pets:

[Rer]

Geeze Vej don't bother taking any time to eat or sleep pal xD