http://www.arena.net/blog/beta-development-update

Welcome to the Year of the Dragon!

Today is Lunar New Year’s Day, and according to the Asian zodiac system, the first day of the Year of the Dragon. It’s an auspicious omen for all of us at ArenaNet, as we get ready to make this our own Year of the Dragon.

According to tradition, the dragon embodies passion, independence, and ambition. We think it’s a perfect analogy for what we’re trying to accomplish with Guild Wars 2. We’re a company full of MMO and RPG fans, and we’ve set out to fundamentally rethink how you deliver an RPG experience online. So this year, the Year of the Dragon, let’s usher out old thinking – the tired old quest model, stiff repetitive combat, and monthly fees – and usher in the new.

Guild Wars 2 has captured the imagination of gamers and media all over the world with its action-oriented combat, its living world full of dynamic events, its highly personalized role-playing experience, and the handcrafted artistry that suffuses every element of the game. Last year, thousands of you joined us at shows and events all over the world to try Guild Wars 2 for yourself. This year, you’ll finally be able to immerse yourself in the vast, diverse world of Tyria.

We recently finished our first closed beta test, and we’re now ready to hold progressively larger events. In February we’ll invite select press to participate in beta testing, and in March and April we’ll aggressively ramp up the size of our beta test events so that many of you will have a chance to participate. And of course, this all leads to the release of Guild Wars 2 later this year.

So stay tuned to our official Guild Wars 2 website, our Facebook page, and this blog for more information about how to participate in an upcoming beta event.
It’s been an incredible adventure over the past five years, working with our community and our team of dedicated artists, designers, and programmers to realize this vision. This year, the seeds of that work come to fruition. We can’t wait to play the game with you.

So welcome to the Year of the Dragon – the year of Guild Wars 2.

http://www.arena.net/blog/dragon

Members, please visit the forums for connection information.

Mesmers are magical duelists who rely on deception and confusion to keep their opponents in check. Indecision is their greatest ally. Using powerful illusions to distract, they make sure they never go toe to toe with an enemy; they use their powers and tactics to set up an unfair fight. Just when you think you’ve figured out what the mesmer is doing, illusions begin to shatter, clones start to fade away, and you realize you’ve been swinging at empty air all along. It’s hard to keep your eye on the real mesmer.

Read more here:
http://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/professions/mesmer/

Death.

They see death as a nightmare, something to be avoided, something that hides in the shadows,
something that only seeks to destroy.

But as much as they try to avoid it, death is unstoppable.

In this universe of uncertainties and chaos, death is the only thing that is certain.

Now the time has come for us to harness the power of death. That which they fear we shall use.
That which they run from, we shall embrace. That which their nightmares are filled with, we
conjure in this world.

Let them cower behind their swords. Let them desperately cling to their technology, hoping
that they can invent an escape from death. They fear us, and we revel in their fear.

For we are Necromancers…

For we walk the line between life and death…

For we hold dear what all others fear.

And this…

Is our story…

Grenth’s Grimoire (.pdf)

Team based decision making is quite different. There are many aspects of gameplay that leaders must examine to make decisions for the team. The decisions a leader makes during battle such as changing targets, pushing forward, pulling back, retreating, etc. can significantly impact the outcome of a battle.

Influencing Factors

There are many different factors that leaders consider when making decisions. Team leaders should consider: the hostiles, their team, their environment, and the flow of the battle.

Factor 1: Hostiles

This factor includes what or who you are fighting. For example, the decisions made against a group of long ranged enemies will be completely different from the decisions made in a battle with melee enemies.

Factor 2: Team

This includes 2 sections: 1) class makeup of team and 2) people on the team.

First, let’s look at the class makeup of your team. Each class has certain strengths and weaknesses that must be incorporated into your decision process. Your next thought is “Wait does that mean I need to learn about all of the classes?” Yes. If you’re determined to lead a team, you must know the capabilities of each member. This could mean creating one of every class to learn but that can take a lot of time. Your primary source of information on classes you don’t play should come from friends, guild members, etc. They’ll have insights that reading articles, wiki pages, etc. will not give you.

Secondly, you need to know the people on your team. Each person on your team has certain preferences, strengths and weaknesses, etc. Unfortunately, these factors can only be learned by playing with and getting to know your teammates. Once you do learn these, you can then apply the right people to each task. I’ll use a Guild Wars PvP example. You don’t want your best relic runner to be playing a healer.

Factor 3: Environment

As Herni Ducard (Ra’s al Ghul) said in Batman Begins, “Always mind your surroundings.” Always know where you are on the battlefield and the areas the where the battle could potentially move. Where are all of your players? Where are all of the hostiles? Can you move the enemy team into a small area to make your team’s AoE more effective? Can you move your team into a larger area and spread out to make enemy AoE less effective? The list of potential environmental questions is far too immense for this guide but these examples illustrate the types of questions leaders should consider when making decisions related to their environment.

Factor 4: Ebb and Flow

Battles have a rhythm to them. They ebb and flow. Knowing where you are in the cycle at all times is paramount. Battlefield awareness and communication help you answer questions such as: What are the hostiles doing? When should I push in or pull back? When should I use skill XYZ versus skill ABC? Recognizing the stages of a battle comes only with experience and practice.

Tips

The following is a list of tips that will hopefully give you some advantages when making tactical decisions.

Tip 1: Knowledge is Power

Decision making is situational. Unfortunately, that means there is no one right answer. Practice both leading and following. This will allow you to learn from both your mistakes as well as fellow leaders. When a fellow leader decides something that you do not understand, ask why. The more you learn about the game, your fellow players, and the hostiles you’re playing against the better prepared you will be to make the right decision for your situation.

Tip 2: Communication

Communication is absolutely essential. There is a lot going on in any battle and its hard for one person to see it all. The team needs to feel comfortable communicating changes to the leader. Make sure your team knows to keep the line free from chatter but that they are free to communicate battle related information.

Tip 3: Advantages

Always look for the decision that will give you the largest advantage. If you’ve ever prioritized the enemy healer, you have already done this. Without a healer, an enemy can be killed much more easily. This gives your party an advantage whenever the enemy healer is out of battle.

Tip 4: Adaptation

Battle tactics must be fluid. A leader must always be re-evaluating the influencing factors and adjusting their tactics accordingly. If something isn’t working for you, do not wait to change it. If the enemy changes their tactics to combat your tactics, don’t be afraid to change yours again. Remember that some tactics produce slower results than others. Leaders must learn to recognize this as well. Unfortunately, this is another skill that can only be learned through practice.

Tip 5: Think Ahead

Once you have tips one through four down, you can start working on planning ahead and out thinking your opponents. In most PvE, this becomes quite easy after extensive play. Players can learn the patterns of the AI and begin making decisions based on what they know the AI will do next. In PvP and in newer games where computer AI is more dynamic, this may not be the case but the basic premise is the same.

Instead of figuring out opponent patterns over time, you have to learn to recognize patterns during each individual battle. Recognizing even the smallest pattern can give your team information to use again the opponent. For example, a teammate realizes that an opponent always seems to use his strongest attack after skill ABC. You can then have someone with the ability to interrupt ready the next time his pattern emerges.

One of the things we game developers always have to struggle with is reconciling our ambition with the reality of a production environment. In the case of our cinematic conversations, there’s certainly been a significant challenge in designing a system that not only meets all of our design requirements, but that is also realistic enough in scope to allow us to meet our production goals.

First, it’s important to note that we’re talking about an enormous number of these storytelling elements —around fifteen hundred cinematic conversations are implemented or planned at this point. They’re used throughout the game, in every branch and offshoot of your personal story, as well as in both the story and explorable modes of our dungeons. And that number doesn’t include our larger, handcrafted full cinematics that require an entire team of artists and animators to create.

http://www.arena.net/blog/jim-boer-on-the-evolution-of-cinematic-conversations

Wielding raw, barely contained magical power, elementalists channel bursts and blasts of arcane energy through their bodies. They gain their power not through rigorous study of esoteric tomes, but by harnessing magic in their blood, waiting to be tapped and shaped. Magic pulses through your veins, calling on you to give it expression. As it grows ever stronger, will it consume you, or transform you into magic incarnate?

Learn well my teachings…

Learn It, Bookah! (.pdf)

Excerpts:

Chain Lightning
Quick Projectile
Your basic attack skill on the two hander, this attack hits multiple enemies, so far I’ve only seen it hit 2 people max, the wiki states there is a trait that allows it to hit more foes. A decent projectile attack, however it deals less damage to a single foe then most other basic attacks.
Offense: 3
Defense: 1
Support: 1

Lightning Surge
Charged
This skill, deals a good bit of damage and puts a stack of blind onto an enemy, which makes them miss with their next attack. Keep in mind that multiple applications of blind are redundant. So this in combination with Signet of Air will not put two stacks of blind on an enemy, so don’t do it bookah!
Offense: 4
Defense: 3
Support: 2

…

Water Blast
Quick Projectile
This projectile attack for the staff is sup-par damage (half that of Fireball‘s) supplied with a small AoE heal for allies within melee range. I’ll admit, I’m not too impressed with this basic attack, the others from water are much better.
Offense: 2
Defense: 1
Support: 2

Ice Spike
Area Charged
This spell has a one second cast time, then there is a one second interval before a large ice spike hit’s the ground dealing fairly significant damage and applying Vulnerability, which reduces defense, for about 5 seconds, to each enemy in the AoE. (Damage may be larger the closer the foe is to the area‘s center)
Offense: 4
Defense: 1
Support: 3

…

Fireball
Quick Projectile
This basic attack deals the highest single target damage amongst other basic attacks on the staff from the other 3 elements. This would be good enough, but it also deals damage to foes adjacent to your target, a great basic attack.
Offense: 4
Defense: 1
Support: 1

Lava Font
Quick Area
This attack deals initial damage followed by additional damage if foes stays inside the area. It is important to remember that the area is very small, which makes it easily avoidable after the initial damage, not even necessarily by dodging, but just by moving normally. Fire doesn’t have much for crowd control, so combo this after something like Frozen Ground or Static Field to keep them in the area. A trait causes Lava Font to fire projectiles if you need it.
Damage: 4
Defense: 1
Support: 1

…

Stoning
Quick Projectile
This basic attack deals sub-par damage, but not as bad as Water Blast, however it does apply a stack of Weakness, so a nice way to prep for oncoming damage from say, a melee attacker who is inevitably going to close in on you.
Offense: 3
Defense: 1
Support: 1

Eruption
Charged Area
The cast time for this spell is actually immediate, but I used the charged keyword since after the cast, there is a roughly 2.5 second interval before the eruption actually occurs. If your foe is still in the area after this long interval, they will take decent damage as well as six stacks of bleeding.
Offense: 4
Defense: 1
Support: 1

New Rank: Veteran

The Veteran rank exists to acknowledge members that have went above and beyond for the guild. It cannot be achieved just by playing for a certain amount of time but must be earned through dedication, support, and gamesmanship. It is a title meant to show that the member has done something for the guild worthy of recognition, respect, and the perks.

To read more, visit the Veteran Rank page of the charter.

Officer Positions and Definitions

PvE Officer
PvE officers coordinate events in PvE such as dungeons, member to-do nights, etc. PvE officers can choose to run events or simply help members plan events. PvE officers work with PvP officers to organize the guild calendar.

PvP Officer
PvP officers coordinate events in World and Structured PvP. PvP officers can choose to run events or simply help members plan events. PvP officers work with PvE officers to organize the guild calendar.

Public Relations Officer
Public relations officer will work with the council on posting to the Marked Souls website and forum, Facebook, Twitter, etc. to publish information about the guild. This position also handles recruitment tasks such as posts on other forums, application reviews, etc.

Crafting Officer
Crafting officers maintain the guild’s Craft Master System (CMS). Crafting officers maintain the list of craft masters. Crafting officers ensure that craft masters receive all needed recipes and requests. Crafting officers handle guild storage requests pertaining to crafting items.

Council

The Council is the governing body of Marked Souls. A council member must have knowledge of the guild, what it stands for, and ultimately where it needs to be lead and nurtured. To be deemed qualified for the Council, a member must be well respected leader within the guild.

To read more, visit the Council page of the charter.

Craft Master System

We’ve added the details of what we are calling our Craft Master System, or CMS, to the charter. This is a variation of the system we created when playing Aion. The system is designed to ensure that members always have access to someone with a large recipe library.

To read more, visit the Craft Master System page of the charter.