Guild Wars 2 roars, the dragon awakes
“Enough about this SWTOR stuff,” ArenaNet finally decided. “Now it’s our turn.”
And so this morning went, as ANet president Mike O’Brien announced that not only will the beta process for Guild Wars 2 be ramping up over the next three months, but that the game will most definitely launch this year. If you’re partially deaf right now, it’s because of the pent-up cheers and excitement from fans that has escaped into the atmosphere.
It’s about time, really. We’ve been lamenting the slow pace of GW2′s development for a while now — GuildCast’s Shawn Schuster noted that ArenaNet originally said that the beta for the game would happen in 2008. Which, if you have a calendar handy, is practically an eon ago in game development time.
Along with SWTOR’s launch (last December), The Secret World (March), and TERA (May), 2012′s already looking to be much busier than any recent year on record in regards to new major MMOs. The industry looks alive and eager to grow, and this could just be the year that changes a lot of things.
I’m excited because I honestly didn’t think GW2 was going to land in 2012 at all. I’m thrilled because my gaming dance card is filling up not only with current titles but future ones as well, and having more options is usually a good thing.
Of course, now the speculation becomes “when in 2012?” Due to the beta schedule O’Brien posted, we can reasonably surmise it’s not going to be before the end of April. A May/June/early summer launch would be a great time to capture all those bored teens and college kids looking for something else to do, and ArenaNet could get a nice boost of publicity if it timed it close to E3. If we don’t see it by then, historical MMO releases tend to gravitate to September or December, although all bets are off when it comes to this company.
For many, it’s just good enough to know that it’s coming, and that by Christmas we’ll be swapping GW2 stories and laughing about the days we were anxiously awaiting this beast.
- Posted in: Guild Wars
Wait, Secret World is coming in March?! This year is looking to be a glut of games between SWTOR, Secret World, Guild Wars 2, and the huge pile of games I picked up during the Steam new year’s sale.
I . . . don’t have enough time. I either need a 26 hour day or a 6 hour work day
I think you’re generous in defining Secret World and TERA as major MMGs. I don’t expect either to make much of an impact on market. I could be wrong, but they feel like niche games to me – at best slow-growers like EVE.
“For many, it’s just good enough to know that it’s coming, and that by Christmas we’ll be swapping GW2 stories and laughing about the days we were anxiously awaiting this beast.”
Personally, I fully expect that by Christmas we’ll be dealing with the next wave of disappointed rage-complaints about how the dynamic events are really just killing 10 rats (or possibly nothing but WAR’s PQs) and therefore it did nothing to innovate, how idiotic it is that they launched without every feature every MMO has released in the last decade, and how unbearably onerous the cash shop is.
The last is actually my one big firm prediction for the year. The size, scope, and scale of GW2′s development means that box sales aren’t going to cut it, IMHO, and neither will pure vanity sales. I think you’re going to see a lot of very annoyed people when the shop finally opens up.
“For many, it’s just good enough to know that it’s coming, and that by Christmas we’ll be swapping GW2 stories and laughing about the days we were anxiously awaiting this beast.”
/raises hand
and along with increasing excitement, the worrying (about potential :fail:) ensues.
Hehe, the cynical side of me agrees with Buhallin. Not because I think the game will suck, but because I’m just feeling particularly jaded regarding the MMO community these days.
But the other side of me is saying YAYGUILDWARS2OMGOSHTHISISTHEYEARITSCOMINGYAYWOWWHOOPEE!!!!
Yeah, let me clarify my position just in case – I think the game’s going to be great, and while I am a bit nervous over the cash shop issue I’m not panicked or planning to freak out and refuse to buy the game because of it.
Just like Moxie, my cynicism extends entirely to the rather depressing state of the community, their unrealistic expectations and their incredibly juvenile response when those expectations aren’t met.
Hmm, release for TSW is still April, isn’t it?
Good to hear that Arenanet aims for a 2012 release.
*snoopy happy dance*
There is no room for pessimism within my heart on this day… it is filled with pure, vibrant joy over this news. GW2 is coming!
I think Buhallin is being unnecessarily cynical. Just because people love to dump on TOR does not mean they will do the same to GW2 (though, of course, some will). Honestly, I hate TOR sight unseen and it has nothing to do with the game itself. Rather, it was Bioware’s grandiose (arrogant?) proclamations combined with LucasArts’ decision to kill SWG that has engendered much of the rage hatred of TOR. Unless Arenanet starts trash talking like Bioware (greatest innovation in gaming history – really? Just like the advent of talking movies – honestly?), I doubt GW2 will evoke the same degree of visceral dislike and forum rage as TOR has.
Aerynne – yes, people love to dump on TOR. Just as they dumped on Rift, on WAR, on the last couple of WoW expansions… basically, every new game now arrives with two vocal camps of gamers awaiting it: rabid fans who expect the ‘Jesus game’, and trolls. Once the game actually arrives, it inevitably disappoints the rabid fans by falling short of their fevered expectations, so they complain bitterly, and as for the trolls, well, they were going to slam the game whatever happened. And frankly, the claims being made on GW2′s behalf (some of them actually by Arenanet, and others by their exuberant fans) are at least as grandiose as anything I heard out of Bioware…
@ Tremayne
Alas, you may be right. I just think TOR opened itself up to an extra helping of dumping.
I am excited, not because I think it will be the ‘best mmo ever’, but because the combat looks fun, the cities seem to be similar in feel to LoTRO’s Bree/Shire (good places to hang out/craft/RP, and the PvP is a bit slower instead of the 3-5 sec deaths I experienced in Rift.
“Just like the advent of talking movies – honestly?”
Uhm, yeah? They took an entertainment form that was typically delivered in small chunks that you had to read, and turned it into an interactive visual experience with full sound. There’s some parallel in there, I think, I just can’t put my finger on it…
http://www.arena.net/blog/guild-wars-2-design-manifesto
That’s at least as grandiose as anything I’ve seen from the Bioware devs, and the Bioware guys certainly weren’t any worse than people like Paul Barnett – who certainly drew his share of mocking for his style, but never the amount of raw hate that I’ve seen directed towards Bioware. Massively’s got a dedicated core of SWTOR haters who seem to make it their mission in life to ensure every article gets 200+ hateful comments. And that’s before the commenters even show up!
Are some of their pats on the back a bit much? Maybe, but if you look at what they’re actually saying (at least that I’ve read) they’re typically speaking about the scope of the game – and by most reports, the 200 hours to max level for each class they’ve claimed is pretty accurate. If even half of that is individual (while the other half is shared) that’s somewhere around 1,000 hours of content. Oblivion was one of the biggest games ever, and maxxed out around what, maybe 200 hours?
I don’t care how retread you think the game is, or whether you’ll never get over Galaxies’ shutdown, the fact that SWTOR is an absolutely MASSIVE game really shouldn’t be up for dispute. And if you can’t at least acknowledge that – if that massive undertaking sucks because you can’t move the minimap or have to use an alt for a guild bank, or because you have to know the category of the item you’re searching for on the GTN, or because you blame Bioware/Lucas/Sony for the unsustainability of Galaxies… Then yeah – you’re the reason I’m cynical about the MMIO community.
Technically, the year of the Dragon is not 2012, but up until February of 2013. But I guess they will publish it in Q3 2012.