Guild Wars 2 Diary #23: Party Time

Not everybody has a group of MMO friends with which to play every single new game and developers know this.  This means two things: the story is generally single player and follows a linear story that pretends every other player in the game isn’t getting exactly the same cutscenes and events that bring people together tend to do so under the guise that you won’t have to talk with other players or even really see them as anything but computer controlled assistants. Guild Wars 2 has some pretty great features for people who want to play together, and this week I thought we’d take a look at that. Before, though, ANet announced some upcoming features in Flame and Frost: The Gathering Storm…

Flame and Frost: The Gathering Storm

So you’ve spent the last few weeks helping out refugees, building signs and generally doing good in the Wayfarer Foothills and the surrounding areas. We know these people have been kicked out of their homes, we know that by volunteering to help we’re making their lives better (although the amount of refugee stuff we’ve done hasn’t changed anything at all in the living story…). Surely there’s a more active way of helping them though? Surely we should storm their homes and help out?

The Gathering Storm brings more refugees to the southeast, but it also gives players the chance to fight back on their behalf. The battle is beginning, and you’ll be able to be part of that battle.

The Gathering Storm is the second part of a four part series involving the refugees and will begin on the 26^th of this month. On the face of it, that looks like you’re going to have to wait almost a fortnight for the new features, but more specifically it means you haven’t got an awful lot of time to get the Living Story achievement from the prelude. It takes quite a while, so be sure to give yourself enough time if you want to get assist the refugees all 75 times and get the title.

Korag is not going to make things easy

It’s also worth noting that, although the next part of the story is sure to be told by the Heralds and through the Living Story achievements, it might just be useful to check the Guild Wars 2 website on the morning on the update, in case there are events that happen at a certain time. These events are unlikely to be repeated (unless they’re done in an overflow) and if you absolutely have to see them, be ready to be at the computer at some awkward time. This is especially true if you live outside of the US.

There are some other changes coming as well, most notably (for me) the ability to choose daily achievements. The developers have listened to your feedback on the new achievement system and are making it so you can earn laurels and finish achievements in your own way. This is much fairer, although I worry that the point of the dailies – to get people trying new parts of the game – has been too readily thrown aside. There’s also some new content for the PvP section of the game, including a new map.

We had to prove ourselves first

The feature with the most potential and the one which best ties in with our theme this week is the new Guild Missions. Considering the name of the game, I haven’t found much reason to be in a guild. I’m a member of one, because someone invited me to it, but for all the good it’s done me I’m not sure why anybody would care to join a guild randomly. It’s a clan and little more, but the addition of Guild Missions will hopefully change that. Massive groups of people with the same objectives? Yes, please! I just hope the developers scale it so that small guilds aren’t left out.

Teaming Up

If you haven’t had the chance to play with a party in Guild Wars 2 yet, I strongly suggest you try it out. Playing with friends in Guild Wars 2 is easy, especially if they’re standing around you when you start the party. You can get to the party options from the little black square with a silhouette in it in the top left corner. Type up the name of the player you want to invite to the party and click invite. If you’re near to the player you want to invite, just click on their avatar and the name will be put in automatically – just press invite. When they’ve accepted your party request, your friend will appear as a little blue orb on the map, so finding them should be easy.

That’s really the only in-game advantage to being in a party in Guild Wars 2, although you’ll be able to enter instances with them as well. This can be helpful for lower level players who want to see more of the world and who want to continue with the instances regardless of levels, but remember that the higher levelled character (the guest) won’t gain experience for finishing part of the story.

But that’s neither here nor there. Having backup as you explore and do events really does add another level to the experience. The party-only chat cuts down the bumf that is the chat box and tactical decisions are easier relayed. Having a friend to play with makes grinding all the more bearable and, actually, playing through the story this way is a nice opportunity to see other parts of the game without needed to start from scratch. Check out the video this week for a look at some of the multiplayer stuff we’ve done, and cross your fingers that even small guilds will be able to partake in the puzzles, bounties and cross country that have been promised in the new update.

History of The Jotuns in Guild Wars 2

Conclusion

Hopefully by this point you’ve gotten the refugee achievement if you want it and, if you do, be sure to keep hammering through those 75. You can go for hours without seeing anything to bump up the assistance amount, and then see ten things all in one location. Here’s hoping that The Gathering Storm is a little more interesting and offers a little more variety in its story. The update that will accompany the change in the Living Story is bound to include features or changes that will affect you, so check out the changelog when it’s published in a few weeks’ time before heading back into battle.

Playing with friends is a great way of cutting the monotony out of parts of the game, and I strongly suggest it. There’s a shame that there aren’t group bonuses or other advantages to playing closely with other users, but still, well worth checking out.