#5 Into Tyria

Yay, we're creating a character and running amok with him! Well, as much as one can at level 1.

So, as I mentioned in a previous post, the character creation process consists of choosing a world (if this is your first character), then race, then profession, etc. (check here if you want the full process). Once you have completed creating your character, you will view a brief set up cutscene. Oh, and as Sigurd is a Norn Guardian, this blog is written from that viewpoint. Meet Sigurd...

By the way, you take screen shots by using the 'PrtScn' key (includes the UI), or 'Shift'+'PrtSc' for shots without the UI. You can take 'High Resolution' screenshots as well, but you need to do this through the menu system which I have been unalbe to find. The screenshots will end up in your 'Documents\Guild Wars 2\Screens' folder.

Upon completing the cutscene, you will find yourself in the starting area of the Shiverpeak Mountains, called Wayfarer Foothills. You are in a restricted subzone while you complete your inital quest / tutorial. There are other players here, and they can / probably will help you. Or not. There's a lot of standing around while everyone mulls over the interface. Just be sure that if you do this, stand in a safe place. Unlike in some other MMOs, if you stop and go AFK out in the middle of the wilderness, you're likely to die. Even in a starting area. The spot you've picked may look peaceful and idyllic at the moment, but if one of Guild Wars 2 events occurs (more on these a little later), you can be easily overrun by stampeding Centaurs or some such.

Oh look, you are actually wearing some armor, instead of starting out in just a thong or tattered underwear. How very practical.

Again, I'm not going to go into every detail (like explaining the specifics of the UI) but I will point out things that differ significantly from other games you may be used to playing (and certainly from the MMOs that I have been playing). The skill bar for instance. It is interesting to note that your first 5 skill slots relate to your main hand / off hand items. Different skills for different items. Be sure to read the tool tips carefully to learn what each skill does and be aware that if you pick up and equip a different type of item, your skills will change! Additionally, you don't start out with access to all the skills for that item. The first will be immediately available, and the remainder will become accessable as you use the item. Note here that only 3 skills will become available because I only have a one-hand item equipped.

In addition to general UI exploration, this is a good time to review the character window, called the (H)ero window. You get a good view of your character, along with all the items that he/she has equipped.

Graphics are pretty sweet. I have an NVidia 460 GTX OC and it's very smooth. They are stylized for the personal story segments and very high quality for the rest of the play experience. Tyria is breathtakingly beautiful.

Once you've killed to your hearts content turn in your task to Ido the Tanner and you will be tasked with facing Issormir (a mini boss right off the bat!) and minions. Here you see other players assisting in the task.

Next post we'll start traipsing through Wayfarer Foothils, and head over to Hoelbrak (the Norn capital city) to continue our personal story.

Ciao!