Guild Wars turns 4

[Erudite]

http://www.guildwars.com/community/events/contentupdates/4thanniversary/

Some nice upgrades planned...

Storage upgrades:

After months of hard work, we're proud to offer you these new ways to increase your storage:

Equipment Packs in assorted sizes, designed solely to hold weapons and armor (gear).
Every character will get a fifth slot for an Equipment Pack.
More purchasable Xunlai Storage panes (tabs).
Each pane is $9.99 USD from the in-game store or the NCsoft Store. You can buy up to four of them for a single account.
Also, a limited-time promotion for a free extra Xunlai tab coming soon.

And, a menagerie at the Battle Isles...
In a beautiful, lush new explorable area in the Battle Isles, the Zaishen Order runs a tight business breeding and training all the common and prestige pets from around the world for their clientele. There are a few ways you can start your own collection in the Menagerie. Bring any pet with you or your Heroes to the Tamer in the Menagerie Grounds. The Tamer will check your pet's evolution and unlock that tier and any lower tiers. Adding charmed pets to the Menagerie is absolutely free. You can also use Balthazar Faction or pay with Zaishen Coins and gold to have the Zaishen Order unlock and train evolutions of pets for you. This way, you've got several choices for unlocking all your pets.
Not quite sure what that means. Hmm.

Also, typical birthday festivities and drops, including stat-raising cupcakes, at the end of the month.

[GravenStone]

Guess they need to trot something out while we wait for the vaporware that is GW2. At least my overflowing vault will be happy.

[Erudite]

Funny you should say that, as a lot of grumbling about this at incgamers is based around the fear that it's a field test for supporting GW2 via microtransactions.

[GravenStone]

Eh, it's a four year old game. For original players that'd be nearly $720 a head in missed monthly user fees at the "going" rate, so the occasional micro transaction won't be the end of the world.

[Raveneye]

Guild Wars has Pokemon now? "I summon you Undead Dragon!" :smile:

The vault upgrade is nice, but not $10 a pop nice. Wonder what I have to do to get a freebie.

It's hard to believe we've been hacking away at this game for FOUR YEARS!

[Erudite]

Free storage (really, truly free) details here (http://www.guildwars.com/products/extras/storage/free_storage_pane.php).

Equipment pack here (http://www.guildwars.com/gameplay/loot_and_items/storage/), with changing quests that yield Zaishen coins to enable you to purchase larger equipment packs here (http://www.guildwars.com/gameplay/the_world/activities/zaishen_challenges.php).

Zaishen Menagerie explained here (http://www.guildwars.com/gameplay/the_world/areas/zaishen_menagerie.php). The lovable pre-Searing moss spider, friendly untameable critter, makes it's debut as a charmable pet.

[Erudite]

Free storage (really, truly free) details here (http://www.guildwars.com/products/extras/storage/free_storage_pane.php).

Equipment pack here (http://www.guildwars.com/gameplay/loot_and_items/storage/), with changing quests that yield Zaishen coins to enable you to purchase larger equipment packs here (http://www.guildwars.com/gameplay/the_world/activities/zaishen_challenges.php).

Zaishen Menagerie explained here (http://www.guildwars.com/gameplay/the_world/areas/zaishen_menagerie.php). The lovable pre-Searing moss spider, friendly untameable critter, makes it's debut as a charmable pet.

Well, between RL activities and in-game cupcake farming, I haven't had a chance to check out everything from the update yet. Initial thoughts on what I have seen...

(1) The mechanic for obtaining the free storage pane is...inartfully done. The NCSoft store had major problems with the traffic, apparently a significant problem with it's email verification system, and woefully inadequate support. I spent about 90 minutes Friday night trying to set this up, and then another hour on Saturday before I finally got it done. The good news is they seem to have resolved most of the issues. And the free pane is soooo nice to have.

(2) The small equipment packs can be purchased for 2.5p, and they hold 5 weapons/focus/armor items only. Larger versions (10 & 20 slot, iirc) are available by earning and redeeming Zaishen coins. See below.

(3) Zaishen quests. I'm going to really like these, at least for a while. Three different Zaishen quests are available daily, each yielding experience, gold, copper Zaishen coins, and occasionally reputation points as a reward. There are three quest givers, and three types of quests. The quests reset around noon EST daily. You can only carry three such quests in your log at any given time.

Zaishen missions invite you to replay missions (or primary quests in the case of EotN). Bonus copper coins are earned by completing the mission in hard mode, and by earning the bonus in each mission.

Zaishen bounties ask you to slay a particular boss mob somewhere in GW. Bonus coins are earned for slaying the boss in hard mode.

Zaishen somethingorother (challenge, maybe) are PvP quests, usually "win x number of rounds in y arena". I don't think bonus coins are earned here, but I suppose it'd possible for flawless victories or somesuch.

I did a bounty quest on Saturday, slaying Maxine Coldheart in Perdition Rock, and a mission quest on Sunday, completing Raishu Palace from Factions. I earned 80 copper coins between the two.

The largest equipment packs cost 15 gold Zaishen coins (50 copper = 1 silver; 10 silver = 1 gold), so 7500 copper coins. It'll be a journey. Other items are available for purchase with the coins as well - normal and elite tomes, rare scrolls, salvage and identification kits, etc.


I have not yet seen the menagerie. Another update is Nicholas the Traveler (think the GW version of Where's Waldo?), a travelling collector with unusual items. Different zone (and collection) every day. I'll see if I can link his goods later today.

[GravenStone]

I had intended to poke my head in over the weekend to farm some cupcakey goodness. Alas, with all the rain we got, my satellite was down more than it was up. Ah well.

[Erudite]

I had intended to poke my head in over the weekend to farm some cupcakey goodness. Alas, with all the rain we got, my satellite was down more than it was up. Ah well.

I believe cupcake drops (and other festivities) last through the end of the month.

[DinbinFanfoom]

I've never played GW, but I still read most WWT threads, including these. Seeing you manly types talk so much about gathering "cupcakes" makes me inwardly chuckle.

[GravenStone]

Hey, it's a birthday celebration. Much more portable than a full blown cake.

[Erudite]

I have not yet seen the menagerie. Another update is Nicholas the Traveler (think the GW version of Where's Waldo?), a travelling collector with unusual items. Different zone (and collection) every day. I'll see if I can link his goods later today.

The menagerie is essentially what I expected, and kinda cool. You may store your pet at the menagerie while you tame another, and exchange pets when you grow bored/tired of the one you have while still retaining it at it's current level/evolution for later use. I stashed my phoenix there last night and tamed the black moa in Ferndale. I rather expect a new title track will be forthcoming for those interested in obtaining all pets and/or pet evolutions.

Nicholas the Traveler travels weekly rather than daily as I had originally thought, and is in Traveler's Vale near Iron Horse Mine this week. He is asking for three bolts of linen to make his yak a warm blanket. He gives you a Gift of the Traveler in exchange, which is double-clicked to reveal various random items. Accounts are limited to five gifts each week. My five this week:

1 x 10 jars of honey

1 x 10 bottle rockets

2 x 5 hard rock candy (move, attack, and activate skills 15% faster for 10 minutes)

1 x 5 Mercantile Summoning Stones (Ever run out of storage space halfway through a zone and been forced to stop picking up drops? No more! Summon a merchant ally of your level who travels a bit behind your party, buying and selling as a normal merchant for 60 minutes or until killed by mobs).

Rarer possible random rewards include the ever-elusive Icy Dragon Sword (inscribable), a new skin on the same weapon in a Vampiric Dragon sword (dark purple hilt, blood-red flames), a few unique miniatures including a Gwen kewpie doll, and a moss spider egg that can be hatched (and tamed) in the Menagerie.

[Raveneye]

Wow, all this might just be enough to make me play on a night other than Thursday! :smile: