The state of Guild Wars 2 so far

Thanks Guybrush, it will be interesting to see this play out.

Building Community

Pre-Purchase site has been updated with prices for digital download ($59.99) and deluxe digitial ($79.99).

Now I have to decided do I want to pay an extra $20 for elite skill, charr mini and 3 consumable items.

Hasn't been confirmed yet but educated guess as to what "select" retailers wills carry Guild Wars: 2 Collector's Edition would be the same retailers NC Soft (the publisher) has used before, and those can be found at http://us.ncsoft.com/en/retail/

Thanks Guybrush, I think the Collector's Edition sounds like a good deal. Is the skill exclusive to the CE?

The skill is available in digital deluxe version and CE.

The Evolution of Narrative in Personal Story

Mike O’Brien on Microtransactions in Guild Wars 2 - blog on how it work but not specifically on what will be available

Thanks Guybrush

Official Pre-Purchase Retailers List

PC Gamer: ArenaNet president talks microtransactions and the risks of going subscription-free

Thanks Guybrush, it will be interesting to see how this works for them. I'm glad they are willing to take the risk.

Guild Wars 2 canceled, Guild Wars 3 in the works - please note the date of this article

New Guild Wars 2 Sound Effects - again look at the date

I know the talented Jennifer Hale is voicing in GW2 - anyone know who?

I love companies with a sense of humor.

Don't know about Jennifer Hale.

Jordan Massey on the Role of the Squad in WvW

Link Round-Up: CBT3 Edition - stuff about March beta test

Thanks Guybrush

Amazon will NOT have the Collector's Edition for pre-sale. It would require sending a code immediately and then mailing the box later and apparently they're not set up for that, except in France. So Amazon France will have the CE.

Currently plan is for game to be region locked as far as were you can run the game but not where you can go once in game. In other words if you buy the US version it connects to US servers if you buy the European version it connects to European servers. For now Asia will link to US. Once in the game you will be able to change to other regions to join your friends in other countries. Reminder currently supported languages are English, French and German with Spanish subtitles being added.

Sidekicking has been changed to only go down, not up. No longer can a level 5 character join a level 15 in a level 15 area and have abilities increased. The level 15 can join the level 5 in low area and be sidekicked down but not the other way around any more.

I wonder if the other MMORPG are region locked?

Introducing The Guild Wars 2 Collector’s Edition Video - pre-purchase starts Tuesday

I'm sure there are lots of folks doing the now.

You can pre-purchase digital versions at buy.guildwars2.com - early this morning it was buggy but I understand its fixed now

As for the Collector's Edition, they weren't kidding about limited. Some people in Europe have complained that their local store had ONE copy.

I went with the deluxe digital version.

Note: removed the beta key hunt link as its now gone.

More info:
If you pre-purchase the standard digital version you will later have the chance to upgrade to deluxe.

Pre-purchasing is not currently implemented at Amazon. Pre-ordering at Amazon will get you 1 day early play of the game (instead of 3 from pre-purchase)

Arenanet is trying to get more CE versions into stores.

Asian investors apparently expecting Guild Wars 2 to do well, they've been buying up NCSoft stock.


Apparently there is a limit to how many digital pre-purchases they will sell (make sense since you get into beta tests and they have to have some limit on that) but they have not said what it is. They have said they will announce when getting close to shutting down pre-purchase.

The elite skill Summon Mistfire Wolf will not be available until your character reaches level 30, which is when elite skills are unlocked.

The other digital items will be received through in game mail system.

Inside the Collector’s Edition – Rytlock Figurine

Wow, a mistfire wolf sounds so cool! Thanks, Guybrush.

Amazon UK is adding pre-purchase.

That CE addition video had GW2 rated T for Teen.

Dancing emote will be added to the game at some point. It was not in the previous betas.

Sylvari and asura were not in last two betas because Arenanet wants to keep some surprises. Even if they add them to future beta events I plan not to play them, I want to be surprised at launch.

If you pre-purchase you will get a thank you for purchasing email which asks you to register. After you register you will get another thank you email. You will not get the link to the game. That will be sent out when first beta event is near.

When you register you will be asked if you have Guild Wars 1 account to link to Guild Wars 2. If you do you will enter your Guild Wars 1 email address and password. After this you will be asked to enter your current email address. This two tier system has confused some people. NCSoft uses the email you used to register Guild Wars 1 as its ID so even if you no longer have that address (I don't) you still enter it when they ask for GW1 email. Then after that when they ask for email again you put in your active address. You want to link your GW1 account to GW2 because 1) your character names from GW1 will be reserved for your use in GW2 (you don't have to use them if you don't want to) and 2) your Hall of Memorial achievements in Guild Wars 1 will unlock rewards in Guild Wars 2.

The email thanking you for registering will include a link to a beta forum, however that forum is currently off line. It will come online during beta events. There is also an account modifing page some people have found but its not ready either. If you find it notice the "Work in progress" graphic and don't try to do anything.

Thanks Guybrush, you do a great job of keeping us in the know