Since I won't be able to play Sunday, I decided to write a small summary of my experiences in GW2 from Friday and Saturday. They are all opinions and my personal point of view. If you can't read opinons without blowing veins in your vein, go watch a Kenny G concert on DVD.

1 - Performance: Substantially better. I had no issues at all to login (I had issues to play during the Stress Test). I got surprisingly good framerates even during the most pyrotechnical WvW moments. It was never unresponsive or unplayable. Very, very few server lag spikes, usually before new builds kicked in.

2 - Visuals: Everything maxed during the whole weekend (yes, even during WvW). The visuals are simply gorgeous. Models have a nice animation range, the particle effects are subtler yet more refined and identifiable. It's the thing I like the most in the game thus far.

3 - Sounds: Jeremy Soule. 'nuff said. Audio effects were, in general, quite good. Gunfire and explosives sound particularly good. Others, not so much. Didn't enjoy much of the Necro sound effects. Voiceovers are also unimpressive, although rarely bad.

4 - Gameplay: Very responsive. They improved the 'contact' feel of the game, so hits feel and sound more satisfying. I like the dynamic pace of battles, since the surest way to die horribly is trying to "tankspank" things. There are some serious balance issues (some Warrior builds are hitting way too hard and too fast, some weapons are much less effective than others, some professions give up very little for a lot of damage stacking). But, balance is a fickle thing, and I'm sure numbers will still change a lot till release (and after that, too).

5 - PvE: Enjoyable. The game is hard, and doing reckless things will usually end up in your corpse on the ground. But there is a lot of room for experimentation, and it feels good when you solo a hard Veteran mob. DEs are also nice as a whole. Of course, some are better than others, but I liked the great variety of objectives and methods. Norn 15-25 area was kinda empty, which made some DEs impossible to complete. I found some fights in the Personal Story too difficult, due to the huge HP pool and fast attack rate of some bosses. One in special caused me to die some 10 times in a row until I could finally chip away the Boss' HP. Most were spot on, though: challenging, but perfectly doable.

6 - PvP: Incredibly entertaining. The WvW dynamic made things very interesting in Maguuma. We jumped people attacking, we jumped people defending, we were jumped while trying to jump, we got wiped, we prevailed unfavorable odds, we explored the WvW map, we deployed Siege weapons, we did it all. Winning or losing, it was always entertaining, and never a bore. It's nice to develop strategies on the fly, to discuss tactics with fellow players, to see dumb squads doing dumb things and being wiped because of that. SPvP is also very entertaining, but depends heavily on team composition. Some teams will simply split up and wait in line to get crushed. Others, smarter ones, will split strategically and will support the other teammates. There are only 2 SPvP maps thus far, and they are usually 5x5s or so. I'd like to see more map options, and maps supporting a bit more people (12x12, maybe).

7 - Cash Shop: Exactly what you would expect for a title like this. No, no P2W stuff. More bag space, more bank space, some cosmetic items, a few XP, Crafting and such boosts, server transfers, extra character slots. In its current version, it has 0 impact over the game balance, as it should be.

8 - Tweaks: The new UI is better: it's minimalistic but manages to give you full control of game functions easily. Map changes are great, with the exception of the removal of map writing. The new Trait Tier system is probably worse than what we had before, but it's not a big deal (I managed to get all I wanted at level 20, minus Elite, obviously). So, it's definitely not a big issue. Map exploration continues to be very rewarding, and there are surprises for those who wander around and have a keen eye.

Wrap-up: The game changed a lot, and mostly all changes were on the positive side. The community seems nice (but that'll certainly change after release). As a whole, I had a really good time during all my sessions. I am eager to play the release version, now. From this build, I think we can expect a release kinda soonish. Let's see how things develop.

Please share your BWE experiences, too, positive or negative.

you can read my mind ^^ thats all i can say ;)

I dont have anything to add, good write up.

I also agree the polish on the game so far tells me we might see a release very soon!

Nice summary, thank you.  

Sounds like everything is perfect with no flaws. They should release this game now. 

Am i the only person who thinks the textures just dont look that good?  the spell effects are nice,and the city landscapes are really sharp... but otherwise it just doesnt look all that great.. Maybe its cause ive been playing Tera.

i am happy about the added feel of impact in combat, that was a big failure for me before.  it still could be improved upon with a lot of skills.

Originally posted by jblah

Sounds like everything is perfect with no flaws. They should release this game now. 

No, there are flaws and things to fix/implement. I hope they take our suggestions and impressions to heart when patching up the game.

It is wildly fun, though.

I agree that it feels more responsive this time, but I can't work out why. It just feels like you get a better feel for what your personal skills are doing in a mass fight. 

Yep nice roundup. Just one point to add on the fact that playing with other players really works. In WvW, I'm a "kind of" balanced server (we have twice as many points as the other servers, like 50.000 against 25.000 and 25.000)  and it's a pleasure to have two or three commanders going in the field and setting up large scale attacks while smaller groups fight along. I personnally fought against a force twice the size of mine DEFENDING the keep we were attacking: four arrow carts later, they did not even exist any more :D! As for PvE, groups happen, sometimes like zergs, sometimes more balanced and intelligent; I fought a giant once, which was completely over the top, and players were really helping each other, rezzing and shielding fast, so that we won the attrition war (maybe ten minutes later, with only two downed states for me). It was outstanding.