Originally posted by atticusbc

Originally posted by sammandar

Originally posted by Matheusor1

Originally posted by sammandar

If you look closely at the core of the eye, you can tell that there is a map relfected on the eye. Some on Facebook say it is Orr, but I can't tell. If it is a map, what could it be a map of? Orr? The dwarves coming back? Any theories?

That's probably a soft box. I mean, it could've been shot in an indoor studio.

ArenaNet wouldn't go as far as putting a secret message in the reflection of an eye.

It doesn't look like a softbox. If you look closely, you can tell there are deliberate shapes, as if it were a reflection of what the eye was looking at; an island, a continent, a piece of land with coast and a small penninsula on the bottom portion. With a picture of an eye this size and this close, I don't think its a secret messsage and I don't think its a softbox.

The picture itself is a teaser, most likely of a trailer for GW2; the reflection on the eye I think is also deliberate.

it's the eyelashes. the light is coming from above so the lashes are reflected  sort of crosswise (meaning they cross over in the shadow).

yeah, I think you guys might be right. Though I'm not talking about the eyelashes or the shadowbox. Right around the pupil, you can see a darker shade surround the pupil in a shape that looks like a piece of land. At first I thought that could be a reflection of what the eye was looking at, but then it could be part of the eye itself.

Originally posted by Matheusor1

Originally posted by sammandar

If you look closely at the core of the eye, you can tell that there is a map relfected on the eye. Some on Facebook say it is Orr, but I can't tell. If it is a map, what could it be a map of? Orr? The dwarves coming back? Any theories?

That's probably a soft box. I mean, it could've been shot in an indoor studio.

ArenaNet wouldn't go as far as putting a secret message in the reflection of an eye.

It doesn't look like a softbox. If you look closely, you can tell there are deliberate shapes, as if it were a reflection of what the eye was looking at; an island, a continent, a piece of land with coast and a small penninsula on the bottom portion. With a picture of an eye this size and this close, I don't think its a secret messsage and I don't think its a softbox.

The picture itself is a teaser, most likely of a trailer for GW2; the reflection on the eye I think is also deliberate.

Originally posted by Serelisk

So, this image is on the GW2 facebook in the recent FAQ posting.

With no apparent relationship to the game, this has been causing a bit of speculation implicating, predominantly, a live action trailer of some kind or another for GW2.

I'm not sure of what to make of this, but I haven't seen anything on Guru or Reddit. Thought I'd bring it up here. Also:

Behind Martin on the screen, this creepy eye appears also. 

Edit: I found the eye of Arenanet thread on GW2Guru.

If you look closely at the core of the eye, you can tell that there is a map relfected on the eye. Some on Facebook say it is Orr, but I can't tell. If it is a map, what could it be a map of? Orr? The dwarves coming back? Any theories?

Originally posted by Xerith
Dwarves changing back to flesh from stone?

ooooh!!! that would be so cool!! I hope that the Dwarves do make a comeback and are a playable race!

Originally posted by Alot

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Originally posted by sammandar

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Originally posted by Alot I believe they expected to sell 3.12 million copies before the end of the year. But, since, according to NCSoft, their expectations have been exceeded so far, it might be possible that they will sell quite a bit more than that.

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is there an article to back that up? I'm for GW2, but I just want to make sure we are speaking on facts and not speculation

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I made a mistake: NCSoft never said anything about 3.12 million sales, that was Korea's biggest Securities Firm. NCSoft's expectations have been exceeded so far, however. And in the first link you can see that NCSoft estimates that they will receive 48 dollars for every GW2 CD sold.

Either way, I would argue that is good news. If NCSoft's expectations have been exceeded, then that is good... I suppose.

Originally posted by Alot

I believe they expected to sell 3.12 million copies before the end of the year. But, since, according to NCSoft, their expectations have been exceeded so far, it might be possible that they will sell quite a bit more than that.

is there an article to back that up? I'm for GW2, but I just want to make sure we are speaking on facts and not speculation

Originally posted by gandales

Originally posted by sammandar

Originally posted by gandales

There are few things OP seems to have missed:

1. $15 a month is almost neglectable for a sector of wow subscribers, so they don't even feel when they are charged .

2. Certain sector of wow is not composed of content burners, so they can even be behind the content release rate.

3. We tend to assume that subscribers demographics is similar to our guild, forum, website, etc. 

1. So... just because some people can afford to be ripped off, does that still make it right? (most likely if you asked the parents who are paying for a lot of the kids who play wow, I'm sure they would beg to differ with you).

2. How does being in front or behind the pace of content release justify wow's cost, content quantity and quality? If you're going to tell me that Blizzard is timing the release of wow's content on the basis of the average progression of their playerbase, what does that say about other mmo's playerbase who enjoy a much faster pase of content (for a much lower cost), and more importantly, what does that say about wow's playerbase and Blizzard itself? Considering wow's kiddy-friendly and fast-paced progression, it certainly cannot be that wow's content is more difficult in comparison to other mmos.

3. Does that include you?

1. Again, by stating that there is a rip off you are enforcing people a valuemeter, when the $15 a month is more like a convention that has been passed in order to avoid people saying something is too expensive. I would say that the parents of kids playing mmos prefer less content so their children could actually do something new like studying. In the lesser case, they won't even care about the game itself.

2. It says that Blizzard put the money according requirements of most subscribers instead of going like crazy for a 1-2% of them. It makes sense. Since content burners don't pay extra there is no reason to cater them too much if that would imply significant extra costs.

3. Not sure what this actually means, it doesn't matter if includes you, me or warner coyote, the idea is that wow population is not represented by a particular group like people who dwells on these forums or wow official forums, since it is actually a pretty heterogenous crowd. A lot of them barely take this things seriously, they just want to play a bit have fun and go to sleep. 

1. I would argue that parents would rather pay once for a video game than having to pay for the box and then 15 bucks a month. If my kid wanted me to do that for him, I would make sure he "worked" for it by completing chores around the house. What we all say on these forums is obviously our opinions; I'm not enforcing a valuemeter on anyone, more than anything, revealing how I value the 15 bucks a month for wow.

2. I understand that gaming companies will cater to their largest playerbase as that makes fiscal sence. However, I think it decreases the value of the P2P model for WOW because you are getting less for your money compared to other games which provide more for less than what you are paying for. I was speaking on context to other games and what they charge for their content and the frequency of release of said content.

3. I completely agree.

Originally posted by Sovrath

Originally posted by sammandar

 

Can't speak for others, but since I played GW1, I never understood how Blizzard could not "afford" to make WOW F2P or at least B2P. Most of my friends, including my wife, played WOW so I played with them and enjoyed it, inspite of the monthly sub. Just because we tolerate a monthly sub doesn't mean we liked paying it or agreed to it; just the nature of the beast.

I think many more people are voicing their displeasure with the P2P model becuase of games like GW1 and more specifically GW2. People ask themselves, if Anet can pull off GW2 with a B2P model, why am I paying a monthly sub for WOW?

I wouldn't discount everyone as just following a seasonal hype, I think it is very much a legitimate discussion. Is WOW still worth a P2P model? I personally would say no.

Well, Blizzard very well might do just that at some point.

However, just because one company does something doesn't mean that all of them should. If Blizzard feels that their product is worth X and Y per month, and they can get it, why would they change? If they see the industry moving toward buy to play and free to play but they can still get subs then "good for them" and they are getting the profit they want.

If they find that it's better for them, in the long run, to make the game buy to play or f2p then they will do so.

Agreed. I was speaking more towards people's attitudes towards payment models. I believe in capitalism and in the free market system. If Blizzard can keep making money off the P2P model, then all power to them; just don't want them (Blizzard) to expect me to pay haha. I'm personally done with paying monthly subs for games.

Originally posted by k-damage

I am a fervent supporter of GW2, don't make me wrong, but I absolutely love how :

- before GW2, people were all "yeah, a sub is logical, you can't have content renewal without sub !".

- since GW2, people are all "omg a sub ?? who on earth deserves that ??" and talk like there was never any reason for any game to have a sub. 

Brainwashed by the hype.

Can't speak for others, but since I played GW1, I never understood how Blizzard could not "afford" to make WOW F2P or at least B2P. Most of my friends, including my wife, played WOW so I played with them and enjoyed it, inspite of the monthly sub. Just because we tolerate a monthly sub doesn't mean we liked paying it or agreed to it; just the nature of the beast.

I think many more people are voicing their displeasure with the P2P model becuase of games like GW1 and more specifically GW2. People ask themselves, if Anet can pull off GW2 with a B2P model, why am I paying a monthly sub for WOW?

I wouldn't discount everyone as just following a seasonal hype, I think it is very much a legitimate discussion. Is WOW still worth a P2P model? I personally would say no.

Originally posted by Lord.Bachus

Originally posted by Vapors
It's not only you who's thinking like that, if you check the current forum threads it's like everyone having pink glasses on. Gw2 is everything its sandbox best combat its awesome no raids its themepark its everything lol. Im pretty sure this can't hold pretty long, lets see how fast people realise that.

So much nonsense...

GW2 is just a good game with good and fun combat, hard to compare to other MMo´s because it has done a lot of things differnent.

Either way, individual people will either like it, while others wont. 

I like the game very very much.

And keep in mind that those people wearing pink glasses, all have played the game extensively during the test periodes, and they still love it after several months. 

Agreed. GW2 is a very complete and polished game and its not even released yet! Not saying its perfect, I'm just saying its looking very good right now. Anet of course will have to continue working on GW2, improving it, balancing the professions and adding more content. I really think we are at the cusp of one of the greatest mmo games we have yet seen; I guess time will tell :)

hi, I'm interested in checking you guys out. I'm still looking for a guild to be a part of for GW2. I'm mainly going to be focusing on WVW and PVE and would like to find a guild that is interested in organized WVW combat. I am married and will soon have a child (late Feb). Though I consider myself a hardcore player I don't always have the time due to work and family. I was checking your website but could not find approx how many GW2 members you guys have.

cheers!

Originally posted by Volkmar

Originally posted by sammandar

CONCLUSION: Only in Canada does MoP beat GW2 in the ranking; in all other countries, GW2 dominates the scene. Grant it, this is one moment frozen in time, as both games are released and time passes by, their positions will most definitely change.

Canada joined the pack, GW2 1st now

MoP CE 2nd.

However it ends, it is clear these 2 will be THE game/add-on of the Fall.

That is no small feat considering the plethora of other very much anticipated stuff that is coming out this Fall.

haha nice! Welcome to the fold oh Canada! :-)

Originally posted by nolic1
I bought my 3 copys back in 2009 from gamestop so I am good.

nice! between you and me... 7 copies! :-)

Originally posted by Aviggin

Because a game that's 8 years old or so's expansion is expected to outsell the latest hyped game...

This isn't Call of Duty.

Never did I ever say or imply that MoP was supposed to outsell GW2, I just thought it would be interesting to see how they matched up against each other in other Amazon markets. I do find it interesting though that GW2 so far is outselling MoP. I have to be honest and say it makes me somewhat happy, mainly becuase I'll be playing GW2 but also because I really want GW2 to succeed. I don't want WOW to do poorly, just enough to wake up the devs at Blizzard and have them get their act together and start pumping out quality games.

Originally posted by muttley
i have a chase visa card that gives points on amazon. its a no brainer to buy it there with my points.

I'm a loyal amazon customer, I love that store! However, I did buy my 4 copies of GW2 from Anet becuase they weren't selling the pre-purchase on April 10th; had they and I would have bought it from them... too bad on their part.

Originally posted by colddog04

Originally posted by sammandar

CONCLUSION: Only in Canada does MoP beat GW2 in the ranking; in all other countries, GW2 dominates the scene. Grant it, this is one moment frozen in time, as both games are released and time passes by, their positions will most definitely change.

I think the only conclusion you can come to is that Canadians love pandas.

Yup... the most important question is why do Canadians love pandas more than Americans?

Originally posted by fiontar

Amazon Top 10 sales in PC related software/hardware!

That's very interesting. Even spread across multiple product offerings, GW2 is outselling MoP!

Note: MoP Deluxe Edition is #2/100 MoP Standard Edition is only ranked #128 in the category on Amazon!

So I wanted to see how GW2 and MoP stacked up against each other in other Amazon markets in NA and in EU (only major Amazon EU markets). Below are the results:

PP: Pre-purchase / CE: Collector's Edition / SE: Standard Edition / DD: Digital Deluxe

GW2 & MoP as listed in the top 100 best sellers in NA/EU Amazon markets:

Amazon - US

http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/videogames/229575/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_vg_1_2?tag=vglnk-c864-20

GW2 PP: 1st
MoP CE: 2nd
GW2 SE: 3rd
GW2 CE: 5th
GW2 DD: 10th

Amazon - Canada

http://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=sr_nr_n_5?rh=n%3A3198031%2Cn%3A!110218011%2Cn%3A3234221%2Cn%3A3321791&bbn=3234221&ie=UTF8&qid=1345178727&rnid=3234221

MoP CE: 13th
GW2 SE: 25th

Amazon - UK

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/bestsellers/videogames/676440011/ref=amb_link_71973765_1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-banner&pf_rd_r=1B0XZ0BE1V3E21K2HQTY&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=286353227&pf_rd_i=676427011#1

GW2 SE: 1st
MoP CE: 2nd
MoP SE: 14th

Amazon - Spain

http://www.amazon.es/gp/bestsellers/videogames/ref=sv_v_0#2

GW2 SE: 26th
MoP SE: 46th

Amazon - Germany

http://www.amazon.de/gp/bestsellers/videogames/ref=sv_vg_0

GW2 SE: 1st
MoP SE: 8th
MoP CE: 12th

Amazon - France

http://www.amazon.fr/gp/bestsellers/videogames/ref=sv_vg_9

GW2 SE: 4th
MoP CE: 11th

Amazon - Italy

http://www.amazon.it/gp/bestsellers/videogames/ref=sv_vg_1#1

GW2 SE: 12th
MoP SE: Not listed

IMPORTANT: Amazon does update these lists, so there is a good chance that by the time you look up these links their positions in the top 100 may have changed.

CONCLUSION: Only in Canada does MoP beat GW2 in the ranking; in all other countries, GW2 dominates the scene. Grant it, this is one moment frozen in time, as both games are released and time passes by, their positions will most definitely change.

Originally posted by snapfusion

Gear progression works good for a number of reasons:

It makes good players great and it makes great players amazing.

Wrong! Gear does not make you great or amazing, skill, talent and working as a team makes you great and amazing. WOW is a great example of how completely inept people can get good gear.

It also allows terrible players through gear grinding to dominate at some level, (dominate the new players leveling up regardless of the new players skill).

As I said, it allows for terrible players to get good gear, in other words, they're not great or amazing, they just have good gear. Dominating people regardless of their skill? Do you really want a game where skillful players are punished and terrible players are rewarded?? *yikes!

In other words it allows everyone regardless of skill to feel powerfull to some extent and thats VERY applealing if you want to attract a wide market, which Anet wants to do.

They feel powerful due to gear, not personal skill, talent, or working together as a team. With gear progression, its all about the gear, nothing else matters; as you have already pointed out!

It provides a progression system that keeps players active in the game.

You mean hooked in order to keep paying monthly subs (wow anyone?).

You take all that away and eventually all your left with is a small group of elite players playing your game, so basically a dismal population.

You take gear progression and you are left with a game where players depend on skill, talent and working as a team instead of depending on the gear they have; no more grind. Players are free to enjoy the game rather than paying for a second job.

No matter how much "fun" you think Anet has built into the game it will get old.

Not as fast as rinse-and-repeating gear-grinding raids ad nauseum

And with no progression to keep players moving forward most players will move on.

Again, you mean hooked in order to keep paying mothly subs... no thanks!

EDIT: Sorry about the paragragh block the line spacing wont take.

my responses are in yellow

Originally posted by Aerowyn

added video in sPVP section on spending Glory(sPVP currency)

also if any topic you feel doesn't have a video that explains the mechanics well let me know ill try to find others

Aerowyn, since you're my go-to GW2 person, I was wondering if you could put together a centrilized source regarding which guilds will be going to which servers; as in which servers will be more focused on RP, WVW, SPVP, etc, etc. I know its not necessarily a video, but was just wondering if you had any info :-)

Cheers!

P.S. Aerowyn, you stil rock and you're my GW2 hero! :-)