Guild Wars 2 players have a lot going on right now. ArenaNet is getting ready to launch their next installment to the Living Story, The Nightmare Within, sending players into the dark tower in Kessex Hills. But that's not all! ArenaNet has been known to throw contests for their players, and the time has once again arrived.
Usually these contests have fans creating artwork, or taking screenshots. This contest is rather unique, requiring fans to take a sweet metal song and create a metal music video. Now I've always gotten excited over the art contest being an artist myself, but this contest has me really pumped because I'm a huge metal head! I can't wait to see if anyone gets their friends together to film a real music video. Better yet, it would be insane to see someone make the song even more brutal and heavy. I would, but sadly all my former band mates are on the other side of the state. Sadly the powers of metal don't include teleportation.
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I love metal!
Guild Wars 2 has been a very busy game, featuring updates every two weeks. Many of the updates feature new PvE content, as well as bug fixes. It's nice to see the game constantly get attention from all the development teams, but these contests just do something for players that no patch, or even an expansion could do, and that's to let players express their love for the game in their own way. I think this contest is just what players need to remember why they love this game. Let's hope ArenaNet continues their tradition of throwing these awesome contests.
While players are out tuning their guitars, and tweaking their drum heads, the events taking place in Kessex Hills seem to be taking a turn for the worst. The spores continue to spread, and the Toxic Alliance is showing no signs of exhaustion. But there still may be hope. Forces have been able to breach into the dark tower, and the time to strike is now. But what is hidden behind the tower walls? There is no doubt we will see the influence of Scarlet, but is she in control? If so, is this the final step in her devious plans?
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It’s gonna be a long climb to the top!
I'm not too sure how this next event will play out, but to me it seems that it will feature another series of dynamic events for zergs to rush in and smash things. There is a good chance we may see things play out like they did back in the Karka storyline, with many events only happening one time. What I'm really hoping for is a dungeon, but events have been the main focus lately. I'm not sure if this is to create an epic and intense feel with large scale battles, or to maybe to teach players how to work within a zerg, and carry those skills into WvW? It could be both. Still, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for another dungeon.
The meta achievement rewards are a bit more exciting this time around. We have some neat skins to enhance our looks. Still I feel this isn't enough, but Guild Wars 2 isn't a game with a never ending item treadmill. This makes creating rewards for max level players a bit tough. Sure we have this new story to experience, but what will help give that sense of accomplishment?
In the past I've mentioned that new skills could act as rewards in some way. Back in the original Guild Wars, players had to defeat bosses to gain skills. We couldn't just purchase them with skill points, we had to prove we were ready to handle new power. Perhaps giving the players new powerful abilities is exactly what events need. If you really think about it, after going on all these adventures, our characters would have to learn a new trick or two to keep conquering these dangerous obstacles. Sure we got a new healing ability, but I want to have to earn new skills. Make me fight for it!
Speaking of dangerous obstacles, the description for The Nightmare Within says players will face off against evil incarnate. While Scarlet is a very wicked individual, I'm really hoping this is referring to a new boss, or a new race. Maybe this death plant can grow it's own breed of warriors. No matter what, it's best that we be on guard. We know some new threat is in the tower, and it probably won't be too happy we walked in.
Is there a past Guild Wars contest that you really enjoyed? Would you prefer the next event to feature a dungeon, or continue using a zerg focused design? Let us know in the comments below.
David North / David North is a freelance writer for MMORPG.com. David loves to play and makes games, but now he writes about them! If you want to creep on him and make fun of his ability to draw, follow him over on twitter @David_the_North.
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