#3 General Resources

Wow, Sigurd, why you make my eyes bleed. Two whole posts and no pictures. There weren't even any links to pictures in that last post. A numbered list, yes, but no pictures. *Sigh*

Here's one...

This is the retail box. As of this writing, Arenanet has suspended sales of digital copies from their web site. Never fear, just go to Amazon, your local Gamestop, or whatever and you can pick up a copy. The standard edition is currently $60.

UPDATE: As of this morning, Digital Sales from the official site have been resumed.

So, Guild Wars 2 resources. First, let me list the official online stuff, kinda self evident...

• Guild Wars 2 official site
• Guild Wars 2 official wiki
• Official Strategy Guide (Digital Version)

This stuff should get you started. Lots of good introductory information on the main site, with the wiki offering much more depth and volume. The wiki is also a great online reference once you have started playing the game and want to look up details as you go. Other online resources...

• Web Sites
• Guild Wars Insider
• Guild Wars 2 on IGN
• Curse Gaming's GW2 Database
• Guild Head
• Podcasts
• Tales of Tyria (also has some great links)
• Tyria After Dark (from Gaming After Dark)
• Guild Wars Reporter (from MMO Reporter)
• Youtube videos
• Too numerous to list. Holy crap people really don't have enough to do with their lives, do they.

Seriously just enter 'Guild Wars 2', or something more specific, in your favorite search engine.

Oh, and last but not least, what you need to play GW2:

• A PC (no, it's not available for Mac or for consoles)
• The game (duh, see above)



Disclaimer: By the way, I am in no way associated with Guild Wars 2, Arenanet, NCSoft or any of it's affiliates, blah, blah, blah, registered trademarks are property of whoever owns them, blah, blah, blah.

What's next? I don't know. Maybe I'll actually start talking about the game. Oh, and another picture!

Ciao!

#2 This may not be the blog you're looking for

Well, I hear you ask, who are you, and what qualifies you to write a blog about Guild Wars 2?

Nothing. This is the internets. This is America. Who needs to be qualified? In fact, I'm going to list 6 reasons why you might consider me ill qualified to write a blog.

1. I am a VERY casual player (< 10 hours per week).
2. I'm 50+ years old (OMG!).
3. I'm NOT hardcore (I've been playing World of Warcraft for 8 years and have only one (1) character at level cap).
4. I'm playing SW: TOR and loving it (the story, voice acting and cut-scenes are awesome), but moreover, I don't have a problem with it going free to play.
5. I never played Guild Wars 1.
6. [Insert your reason here]

So, again, why am I doing this and who IS my target audience?

I'm doing this mainly for fun. If it turns out not to be fun, I'll stop. I also have been wanting to give blogging a shot to see how it works and what it's all about. At some point, I want to have a consulting business and I want to be familiar with the online tools that are available to help support it. Whatever. 

Target audience? I plan to invite a couple of friends to read this purely for entertainment purposes. If someone wants to join me in my travels, that's great, but that's not the point. I have no intention of seeking other readers.

Enough for now.

Next up, resources and what you need to get started in Guild Wars 2.

UPDATE: 9/22/2012 - I've shortened my list as this post sounded a bit too whiney which was not my intention. Just wanted to make it clear that I am an extremely casual player.

Ciao!

#1 Hello. My name is Sigurd. And I'm an altoholic.

So, first off, I've decided NOT to write from the viewpoint of Sigurd himself. Being a Norn, he is neither insightful, nor eloquent, and being rather fond of drink (as you will see), prone to bouts of memory loss. Not that I am much better, but I'm interested in writing about my experiences in Tyria as an MMO player. Wow, what a terrific segue into the main body of this first post; My purpose in writing this blog, and it's perspective. In a subsequent post I will introduce myself, my experiences as a player of PC games, and MMOs in particular.

Guild Wars 2 is one of the latest 'AAA' MMO offerings on the market. It calls itself 'Free to Play', but this is a common misnomer. The game itself is currently $60 for the Standard Edition, but has no ongoing subscription fee (ala World of Warcraft, Rift, or [until the fall], Star Wars: The Old Republic). Many MMOs are going this route in order to be able to garner a higher population of gamers by the seemingly low cost over the lifetime of the game. In lieu of the subscription fee, these MMOs offer 'micro-transactions' (the charging of real money to purchase virtual goods) to cover the cost of ongoing support and development.

Here's the thing. I do not intend for this blog to explain every nuance of Guild Wars 2, MMOs in general, or state of the industry, nor do I have any desire to argue the merits of one MMO versus another. There are a lot of great games out there to choose from, play what you want, and for goodness sake, don't spread hate against a game simply because it does not support your play-style. That's just ignunt as Sigurd would say. The purpose of this blog is subject to change, but at the outset, I am simply interested in chronicling my (Sigurd's) experiences in the World of Tyria. So let it begin.

Ciao!