Nightfall WPE 9/22 - 9/24

[Lurker Wyrm]

The other topic seems to have become more about what to expect/hope for with Nightfall, so I thought I'd make a new topic. Plus, in order to put this in there I would have had to do a quadruple post, which is just eh..., so here we are.

Highlights are that it's next weekend and it doesn't look like you'll need a Nightfall pre-release key or Prophecies/Factions account; 2 new PvP arenas which, IIRC, were there during the other previes (unless these are for different types of arenas, i.e. HvH); we'll get to see about 1/3 of the game since we get all of Istani and AN has stated that Elona will have 3 provinces (of course, that's not saying there won't be additional areas not included in said 3); the November PC Gaming mag will have a key for a free Gray Giant mini-pet.

Here's the official release off the Guild Wars site:

September 12, 2006 (BELLEVUE, WA) – Announced today by ArenaNet®, developer of the wildly-popular franchise Guild Wars®, the studio's latest game Guild Wars NightfallTM will make its debut in a massive event open to anyone and everyone who would like to play. The event will take place September 22, 2006, beginning at 12:01am PDT and running through September 24, 2006 at 11:59pm PDT.

The Guild Wars Nightfall World Preview Event will feature previews of the new environments, new missions, and new battle arenas. The event will allow players to create Nightfall-specific characters from the six core professions as well as the two new NightfallTM professions, the Dervish and the Paragon, and try out new Nightfall skills. The entire Istani province of the new realm Elona will be open for player exploration, and players will be able to view the first Nightfall in-game cinematics. In addition, two new arenas will make their debut, the Sunspear Arena and Churranu Island.

For an added bonus, the November 2006 issue of PC Gamer magazine, due in stores a week before the event, boasts a Guild Wars Nightfall cover story, and includes an access key for an exclusive, in-game, Gray Giant miniature. The Gray Giant will be useable during the World Preview Event, and then may be reactivated with a Guild Wars Nightfall account upon release.

[Lurker Wyrm]

The official Guild Wars site has put up info on how to play the game without an existing GW account, which you can get here: http://www.guildwars.com/support/NWPE_Keys.php

IMO, this seems like an opportunity for people who played the original BWEs (way back in '04 and '05) and were turned off to see how the game has progressed since then. Even without the added Nightfall features, it's a pretty radically different game.

Anyways, as most of you know by now I'll be spending a lot of time online this weekend trying the game out. Hope to see at least some old/new faces there.

Also, in case you didn't know, the November PC Gamer (out now) has a code for a free Gray Giant mini-pet. I'm going to wait for the screenshots of it to be posted to see if it's worth getting for release.

[Havral]

Europe (Or possibly just the UK) got shafted with regards to the Gray Giant if they were hoping to see them for the FPE; no partner magazines have been named, and pretty much every regular gaming magazine will be published well after the FPE.

Bah.

I'll probably be there, if I can stave off WoW addiction. Y'know how it is, you log on for five minutes to check your auctions and then you're trying to solo WC. That still hasn't stopped me pre-ordering the Nightfall CE though

[Hawkmoon]

Mwahahaha! I picked up my Starter Kit, and pre-ordered the CE from my local GameStop.

Eagerly awaiting the preview weekend! I expect I'll be online Friday and Saturday evenings.

[Lurker Wyrm]

There are a couple new things up on the GW site to whet your appetite for the WPE. There's a new video up here which shows off some of the new interface features and shows someone controlling the Heroes (looks pretty impressive -- one of the things I was worried about). Also shows the look of a few new characters (the afro hairstyle is back).

Edit: I took a second look at the trailer and it appears the fab 4 are back. I saw Devona and Mhenlo, which means Aidan and Cynn can't be too far behind. Hopefully we'll be able to change their skills around as well, but that would probably be too much to ask for.

They've also put up an essay called How Heroes Work, which is worth a read; I think it's going to be more of a live and learn experience getting used to heroes though.

I picked up my Starter Kit

Unfortunately, as far as I'm aware, this time around the starter kit doesn't have a 24 hour head start thing like the last ones did. It's basically just a discounted character slot since I'm sure the bonus weapons will, like all the others you get from pre-ordering, be useless less than a week into the game. Because of that, I'm not so sure I really want to pay extra for one since I'm more or less set set as far as PvE characters go.

edit: oops.

[KingOfPain]

Working Link to Heros.

KoP

[WarBlade]

The website content looks a little rough.

The good thing is there's a degree of publicly released info now, so I can finally break my silence a little! 8)

You can set a destination for a Hero by double-clicking on the flag button with that Hero's number, and then clicking the Compass mini-map. Double-click the same button to remove the destination flag from your compass. If you like, you can set a destination flag by clicking on the terrain in front of your character instead of using the Compass; when you do, a corresponding destination flag appears on your Compass.

This is a whole lot like activating a dye. You click your flags and then 'apply' the effect to a point on your compass. The flag, which corresponds either to a hero or to the henchies depending on the flag you choose, will drop a map marker that they will run to and camp. Double-clicking the flag on your UI cancels the effect and they come running back.

Press "K" to open (or close) your Skills and Attributes panel. You can use this panel to adjust the skills and attributes of your character or any of your Heroes. Before making these adjustments, you can select the character or Hero you want to adjust on the top of the panel.

NOW you get to know why I've had so much trouble switching between the two games constantly!


The panel in question takes up a fair bit of vertical space to use effectively. I recommend dragging it over to the middle-right and stretching it from top to bottom of your screen. If you try and leave it the same way you have your old skills panel set up currently you will get very annoyed with it very quickly. Strrreeeeeeeeeeeeetch that thing like a rubber band and stretch it hard.

Templates

During the Nightfall Preview Event, you won't be able to use this feature of the Skills and Attributes panel.

You're going to love this in a month's time. I'm not elaborating on it any further, but you're really going to love it.

[Havral]

Bad news. Or maybe even not, since this means I'm likely to be able to witness the end of the event unlike previous times:

The start of the Nightfall World Preview Event will be delayed by a few hours. We’ve discovered a corruption in the archives, and we’re pulling a full backup, after which we will then examine the error, make a correction, and the event will be on its way. At this point, we anticipate that the event will not start before 13:00 BST. We will update as soon as we have further information. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Out of habit, I went to check The Guld Hall's board to gauge the depth of their incessent whining, but they're having database troubles. Irony clearly has a new flavour

[WarBlade]

The event is now live. Make a new character. Start in n00b territory and have a look around.

If you encounter any bugs you want to see squished post them and I'll either explain what they really are (if I can) or agree it sounds like something that needs fixing and pass it on to the people who fix.

[WarBlade]

Oh boy.

Havrel, Serpent and I hooked up in Chahbek Village and dived on in. Somebody had Koss and ditched him so the hero defaulted back to my control further down the list. Just a word on that for the first mission: You need Koss. You can't go into the mission without him.

And on we went. Serpent running a Dervish with Havral and I running Paragons and me still (arguably) controlling Koss. Another word on Koss: The hero controls are a bit half-baked ATM. They will improve.

Sadly I almost had to beat Havral over the head with a big mallet for not using his Signet of Synergy. Paragon n00bs like us have this nifty little signet that does a 50/50 split heal to one ally and yourself. Get two or more Paragons together triggering these things liberally during fights and the need for monks diminishes rapidly in the early game. There is also Mending Refrain which works nicely on Koss (who has a shout of his own to help sustain it) and on anyone else in earshot if you have a tendancy to lob off Anthem of Flame.

I forget the Dervish skill set from the early quests. They've probably changed from when I last played them anyway.