Curse

Lonesamurai · Jul 30, 2007, 09:55 PM // 21:55

This week on The Ascension, we're discussing:

Your expectations and hopes for -

Really looking forward to it?
Too soon? Too early?
Not bothered?

PM me here, or through the station forum @ http://forum.sanitarium.fm and i'll read out as many as i get on air and we'll also be discussing Guild Wars 2 in the station #GuildWars IRC channel

Thursday night, 9pm til Midnight GMT, 4pm til 7pm EST

pamelf · Jul 31, 2007, 02:58 AM // 02:58

any chance of a podcast for these?

Lonesamurai · Jul 31, 2007, 11:15 AM // 11:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by pamelf

any chance of a podcast for these?

Ok, the discussion is based on the IRC (mainly as the station is new and this is the first full show for the station and I haven't got the software to do on air discussion yet), however, if someone wants to record the shows and send them to me, i can host them on the station server for download

I much prefer the IRC discussion that i can follow and comment on, and also once viable, have live interviews on air with people from the industry, Such as Martin Kerstein, NCSoft Europes Guild Wars community Rep, or hell, even Gaile Gray... However, I can transcribe the conversation and post that on the station forum for people that missed the show and discussion to keep up with and see what was discussed

Lonesamurai · Aug 02, 2007, 11:08 AM // 11:08

Couple of things for tonights show guys and trolls:

Firstly, I'm glad to say that Martin Kerstein, the Guild wars Community Rep for NCSoft, the man filling the almighty shoes of the loved Alex Weekes will be joining us in the IRC discussion tonight, although he has said to me that he can't answer questions, but from a player prospective, he is interested to jump into a lively debate about hopes and expectations for GW2

looking forward to that

Secondly, had a PM over on The guild-hall.net from Vigil that may be interesting discussion for tonights show:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Virgil

I whipped up a short article talking about Guild Wars 2 that might provide some starting points for discussion. Hopefully, I'll be available to listen and contribute, although, I think it would be very beneficial to your listeners and the greater GW community if you could have the show recorded and hosted.

Quote:

I think it's important before talking about expectations for Guild Wars 2 that you determine whether or not even having Guild Wars 2 is a good idea. The short answer is yes. By 2009, Guild Wars will have fairly obsolete graphics. Even now, after 3 chapters, the gameplay is largely the same. If ArenaNet continued their current business model, eventually current players would get sick of the same structure, regardless of how many improvements are made, while new players would continually be discouraged to pick up Guild Wars due to increasingly complex gameplay. As mentioned in a recent interview, every new chapter adds new layers of gameplay, making tutorial sections bigger and bigger. So, for a new player looking to get into PvE, there will be an overwhelming amount of choices and pure data to comb through. For a new player getting into PvP, which many players already feel is difficult, the thousands of skills and firmly entrenched PvP crowd. There are a lot more factors, like the current declining hardcore PvP fanbase, but, suffice to say, GW2, combined with GWEN, is the right move.

Onto speculation. From the strictly PvE side of things, Guild Wars 2 is likely to be a hit. It’s going to have a high level cap, a semi-persistent world, new playable races, jumping and swimming, and areas designed for solo play. Some of those aspects are great for every player, assuming they’re done right. But, ArenaNet is playing a dangerous game by appeasing to the hardcore PvE crowd. Essentially, that crowd wants Guild Wars to compete with WoW. But, from the very start Guild Wars was never meant to compete with WoW. It was meant to diverge from all the MMO stereotypes that WoW has come to represent. Remember skill > time spent? While that famous mantra hasn’t been seen for quite some time, it’s evident that Guild Wars was build around that philosophy, simply because character level is insignificant. The rest of the game might not have fallen perfectly into the skill > time spent category, but it is undeniable that ArenaNet effectively removed leveling. And now they want to remove the one, the only, irrevocable example of skill > time spent? To anyone who picked up Guild Wars because it promised to be different, this is a grave mistake.

As for the hardcore PvP crowd, Guild Wars 2 also promises to be a hit. UAX in a structured PvP type that promises to be like GvG. Assuming it’s balanced, that’s really the bread and butter for a great Guild Wars PvP experience.

But what about the casual player? For PvE, my gut reaction says that any game with a 100+ or endless level cap can’t possibly be good for the casual player. And, for PvP players, there is “Unstructured PvP” in the Mists. While I don’t doubt that this will appeal to a lot of players, I can’t help but to worry about the small number of PvP modes. Guild Wars now has GvG, Heroes’ Ascent, Team Arenas, Random Arenas, Alliance Battle, Hero Battles, and the Faction’s competitive missions. That’s a lot of options, ranging from hardcore competition (GvG), to more casual but very coordinated PvP (HA, TA), to casual (RA, AB), and PvE/PvP hybrid (1v1, AB, Factions Competitive missions). Unstructured PvP has a lot of ground to cover.

But can that be right? Can the company that built a game for the casual audience fed up with the treadmill of MMOs be neglecting that very audience? It’s really hard to believe, and, in fact, that isn’t what I’m expecting. As a seasoned TGHer, I am adept at preparing for the worst case scenario, but there is a lot of talk that promises to keep Guild Wars 2 worthy of the Guild Wars name. Here are some excerpts of interviews that highlight just that.

Quote:

“We're not trying to make a different game that appeals to a different audience; we want Guild Wars 2 to be the game Guild Wars players want to play.

We've been working on Guild Wars now for quite a few years, and realised many of the directions we tried worked out really well, while some didn't work out the way we wanted them to. So now we have an opportunity to go back and redo some of those decisions, to really make the game Guild Wars could have been all along.

Guild Wars 2 is going to feel similar to people who liked Guild Wars.

People who loved Guild Wars because it had very interesting strategic combat, or because there were lots of decisions for players to make, like choosing your strategy before a mission; it wasn't just about leveling up.

Those people who loved Guild Wars for its competitive aspect. People who loved Guild Wars for the fact it's so easy to get into and didn't make you sit around waiting to form a party, but let you jump into a mission and even solo most of the content in the game. All of those people are going to love Guild Wars 2.

But at the same time we're making improvements to the game that are really going to make what we view as the ultimate Guild Wars experience. And hopefully people who liked Guild Wars will like Guild Wars 2 a whole lot more.”

Quote:

“So what we're doing with Guild Wars 2 is letting people have that fundamental feeling of progression, without being all about how much time you've spent on your character.”

Quote:

“The basic mechanisms of the Guild Wars 8-skill-system will also be in Guild Wars 2.”

Quote:

“Guild Wars is lacking public recognition of character development, because the level does not increase any more. That's what we're going to change in Guild Wars 2 by rising the level cap a lot. At the same time, we're flattening the power curve, so the difference between a level 50 and a level 100 character would be much bigger than between a level 100 and 150 char. This increases freedom in character development without making Max-Lvl-Characters too strong.”

To be frank, developer promises don’t always come true. That’s not a cheap shot at ArenaNet, but rather a caution against over optimism. At the same time, I know that ArenaNet is going to try to keep the current Guild Wars audience interested in their new product; they’d be foolish not to. There is a lot to be wary of, but, even as GW jaded as I am, I still have faith that ArenaNet can provide a great game.

-Virgil

thanks for that Virgil, and hope to see you all at the show tonight, 9pm til Midnight GMT, 4pm til 7pm EST... irc.sanitarium.fm:6667

~Lone

JONO51 · Aug 02, 2007, 12:33 PM // 12:33

Nice, if i may ask, what happened to you at Split Infinity? Did ya leave to do this?

Lonesamurai · Aug 02, 2007, 12:52 PM // 12:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by JONO51

Nice, if i may ask, what happened to you at Split Infinity? Did ya leave to do this?

All, I'll say is, that this business is meant to be fun, and politics and BS in the background ruin the fun, not only for the DJ's (who don't get paid BTW, they do it for fun, hell, i don't pay myself to do this and the station is funded out of my own pocket), but the knock on effect of politics and other BS from the DJ's effects listeners enjoyment of the show aswell... And Icecold and i both got sick of the BS and decided to do it ourselves

i won't allow the politics to become an issue so that we can enjoy it and the station can build and grow and all the money the business makes will be pumped back into it to create a better and more fun environment for listeners, including games servers and guild/clan hosting in the future, aswell as giving the games companies a place to come to discuss things with their gamers in a controlled and enjoyable atmosphere...

We're also currently looking at setting up a monthly show for different games companies, starting with NCSoft, for them to do and share ideas and dev comments with the gamers directly

Lonesamurai · Aug 03, 2007, 08:46 PM // 20:46

Many thanks to martin Kerstein and all the IRC junkies that joined us for the IRC Q&A session last night...

A new station high listener count of 55, which was a great pleasure and plenty of great requests! Also discussed was martin's thoughts on third party PvP tournaments and coverage aswell as his hopes for GW2 and a sneak peak at the new changes to HA that happened today

next week, although it's Gaile Grey's B'day, i doubt she'll be joining us, but I'm hoping that Martin will actually be joining me on air and as with last night, we will be taking questions through the IRC voiced (+) people to keep it sensible, but I shall post on Monday with more details of next weeks show...

IRC Chat Log

Age · Aug 03, 2007, 09:18 PM // 21:18

You seem to be talking about GW2 a lot that is still away off.What about GW1 the future of it after Eye of the North?

Lonesamurai · Aug 07, 2007, 10:31 AM // 10:31

This week on The Ascension, we're discussing:

Anything you want to!
Three weeks til GW:EN release, the HA changes, anything this week

Things you want to see changed?
Things your realy enjoying at the moment, farming, DoA, etc?
Your plans for the GW:EN preview weekend?

PM me here, or through the station forum @ http://forum.sanitarium.fm and i'll read out as many as i get on air and we'll also be discussing Guild Wars in general in the station #GuildWars IRC channel

Thursday night, 9pm til Midnight GMT, 4pm til 7pm EST

Lonesamurai · Aug 28, 2007, 12:00 PM // 12:00

This week on The Ascension, we're celebrating the release of:

with a 24 hour, 4 DJ on air extravaganza!

We'll be broadcasting Live from the International Districts of Lion's Arch, Kaineng Centre, Kamadan, Great Temple of Balthazar and after the servers go live, the Eye of the North ID1!

We'll be taking live music requests via the website and IRC, to use the website request function, sign up to the forum at forum.sanitarium.fm and log in on the website to activate the request system

Crack open the Dwarven Ale!

PM me here, or through the station forum @ http://forum.sanitarium.fm and i'll read out as many as i get on air and we'll also be discussing Guild Wars in general in the station #GuildWars IRC channel

Thursday night, 9pm til Midnight GMT, 4pm til 7pm EST

Longasc · Aug 28, 2007, 05:58 PM // 17:58

You mean we will bitch an moan in the station's #GuildWars IRC channel when the shop does not work at midnight?

Lonesamurai · Aug 28, 2007, 08:18 PM // 20:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Longasc

You mean we will bitch an moan in the station's #GuildWars IRC channel when the shop does not work at midnight?

Yeah we can do that too

Lonesamurai · Aug 29, 2007, 10:21 AM // 10:21

Just a lil more information and this will be up on European Guild Wars community Sites tomorrow aswell:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martin Kerstein

Party with GW:EN

A new release is always a good time to throw a party, so we teamed up with Sanitarium.fm, who will do a 24h GW:EN launch party. The final set of the night (Friday, 31.08.07, 21:00 – Midnight BST) will be played by Martin Kerstein (European Community Team Lead), who will also answer questions and chat with the players.
So be there on Friday, and party like it's 1999!

So jump on irc @ irc.sanitarium.fm and ask questions, make requests and have fun

~Lone

Kryth · Aug 29, 2007, 10:55 AM // 10:55

Go go Lone Samurai!

Great work.

Martin Kerstein · Aug 29, 2007, 12:58 PM // 12:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lonesamurai

Just a lil more information and this will be up on European Guild Wars community Sites tomorrow aswell:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martin Kerstein

Party with GW:EN

A new release is always a good time to throw a party, so we teamed up with Sanitarium.fm, who will do a 24h GW:EN launch party. The final set of the night (Friday, 31.08.07, 21:00 – Midnight BST) will be played by Martin Kerstein (European Community Team Lead), who will also answer questions and chat with the players.
So be there on Friday, and party like it's 1999!

So jump on irc @ irc.sanitarium.fm and ask questions, make requests and have fun

~Lone

Spoiler!

I am really looking forward to the GW:EN release and the show

Lonesamurai · Aug 29, 2007, 02:38 PM // 14:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kryth

Go go Lone Samurai!

Great work.

Thanks, its really coming together and i'm gonna be sleeping heavily tonight to try and stay awake for most of the release party

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martin Kerstein

Spoiler!

I am really looking forward to the GW:EN release and the show

But i couldn't help it... I was excited!

Lonesamurai · Aug 31, 2007, 08:56 AM // 08:56

Ok, its 10am Friday morning, the morning after the night before and we're still rocking out ingame and on IRC...

We maxed out at 74 listeners for the show and still high figures whilst we're moshing in Eye of the North ID1!

Come and join us,
Around is on at 12pm BST (7am EST),
Icecold is up at 3pm BST (10am EST),
Movian at 6pm BST (1pm EST)
and finishing up the GW:EN 24hour release party Live on The Sanitarium (www.sanitarium.fm) with
Martin Kerstein holding a live on air Q&A session with IRC and spinning the decks himself tonight at 9pm BST (4pm EST) to finish off the party!

See you there!

~Lone

Lonesamurai · Aug 31, 2007, 11:16 PM // 23:16

-=APPOLOGIES TO ALL THE LISTENERS THAT LOST THE STATION ON FRIDAY EVENING AT 23:40BST DURING MARTIN KERSTEINS Q&A SHOW=-

We had a massive server crash on the server side and the company are looking into it and hoping to have the server up and running shortly and in good order!

keep an eye here for more details soon and appologies again

~Lone

Age · Aug 31, 2007, 11:40 PM // 23:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martin Kerstein

Spoiler!

I am really looking forward to the GW:EN release and the show

So you are Alex's replacement why don't you have red name like he did.Make yourself more visable.

Lonesamurai · Sep 03, 2007, 06:50 PM // 18:50

This week on The Ascension, we're discussing:

Your thoughts of -

What do you think?
GW:EN is here, your thoughts and feelings so far, do you like it? Do you hate it?
Come and Rage or tell us how much you like GW:EN this thursday

PM me here, or through the station forum @ http://forum.sanitarium.fm and i'll read out as many as i get on air and we'll also be discussing Guild Wars 2 in the station #GuildWars IRC channel

Thursday night, 9pm til Midnight GMT, 4pm til 7pm EST