User:Kiomadoushi/Speculations

Clearly, speculations haven't been heard enough. Also, expect spoiler stuffs... Avoid this page if you don't know all of Guild Wars' original story or don't want to know what's in the books.

If you're lost... look for the [show] to the side to see what each updated speculation reads...

Professions

((Including the Mesmer)) ...because this one CERTAINLY hasn't been heard enough.

Its the only remaining concept art given to us, and specifically mentioned by name ("mesmer") in the books, just as "thief" was mentioned. On top of the reveals coming every so often (which I'll touch on later), and going in order of game-changing appearance and play style (also listed below), the Mesmer may likely be the last one to be revealed, being right at the end of May or beginning of June, if it's as I suspect it will be. They said the hex system has been removed a long time ago, so Mesmer play style is probably likened to spirits or turrets, where you place it down, and it does its own thing (possibly like DoT AoE, set up at a range, instead of affecting foes for a time after being cast, as that's too much akin to a hex spell). The reason behind this is Queen Jennah's role in saving Ebonhawke from the branded, casting an illusion over the ogres to make them "see" the humans and charr being converted. The other reveal waiting is an adventurer, which I also expect may be the sooner upcoming reveal, in as short as 2 or 3 weeks (again, i'll touch on this). ArenaNet already thought up the Commando for April Fools Day, but as of right now, they haven't said it was a joke. Maybe "Commando" isn't a joke? The last silhouette looks like a Charr wielding a giant gun. Including weapons listed for the "gag", being the Rifle, Pistol, Sceptor, and Dagger, the "Commando" may be a lightly armored (at least leather-type armor) master of these new technologies introduced that use gunpowder. With the dagger equipped, it may have leap-and-retreat attacks, similar to the Thief's skills, making it a decent melee fighter with more skill in ranged attacks. The list of weapons even closely match the known available weapons (two-handed are all rifle-like; main-hand are pistol-like, the pistol itself, and a sceptor; off-hand are pistol-like, pistol, dagger, and warhorn-like). All that remains now is waiting til the next reveal to see if its the often-speculated mesmer, or our friend, the commando. One other thing the point out about the commando. In GW1's version, the commando says he came from the future, and the technology doesn't exist for about 250 more years. Of course, he never said he came from the specific time period of GW2, but clearly some time after the game's timeline catches up to us. This right here is possibly the most actual "speculation" listed (as everything else is heavily hinted or not denied), but this can say that the GW2 commando is what evolves the technology further into the A.R.E.N.A. Commando soldiers. This assumes that even if it is for April Fools Day, the event is still canon because it really happened in the game, including the events in the past, saving Gwen's mother. Now, first on the "listed" things, I'd like to talk about reveal speed. April 27 - Elementalist June 9 - Warrior July 14 - Ranger August 25 - Necromancer January 27 - Guardian March 11 - Thief April 15/22 - Upcoming Later Reveal I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed this, but there's a pattern here. Enough so that it actually makes me think that the Mesmer will be next revealed, in 2 weeks (or 3 if the ranger was a mistake). Do you see it yet, that I can guess the order or the date? The pattern was: Scholar -6 weeks-> Soldier -5 weeks-> Adventurer -6 weeks-> Scholar -(5 month break from beginner to what I assume is only intermediate news-breaking changes)-> Soldier -6 weeks-> Adventurer -5 weeks?-> Upcoming Scholar -6 weeks?-> Later Adventurer The first pattern is that it cycles classes without letting them release two-in-a-row... The second pattern is the 6-5-6 week break, then 5 months (not 6!?) to restart with the 6 weeks, for the last 6-5-6. That translates to (first)-6-5-6---5---6-?5-6---5---(release) so that we can expect things based off of that. The other listed thing is game-changing importance. I'd like to take a moment to talk about the professions in as far as changes, and what makes them special, making use of the new game. April 27, 2010 Elementalist - Our magic favorite, the Ele returns with something special for those like me who love the Ele, but hate being forced to pick a single element. Certainly very special, and makes use of weapon skills to give the Ele a great advantage in almost every situation, but nothing too ground-breaking. We knew it would come back: it's the best damage-caster, and variations appear in almost every RPG game that includes magic. It's special in its own ways, but beyond making use of everything the game has to offer, and switching specialties, its not TOO special. Almost like... "easiest to pick up (point-and-cast), very difficult to master (have to understand all that playing a caster encompasses to make the most out of it)" June 09, 2010 Warrior - The front-of-the-fight basic for any RPG. I really can't think of ANY RPG game that has no version of the Warrior. GW2's warrior is upgraded with some new combat styles, using weapon skills to be both powerful AND vicious. Again, not much of a surprise that it showed up, but it did make some big changes on how RPG's generally work. The warrior has a new sense of versatility and a master of physical weaponry. July 14, 2010 Ranger - The Ranger is also an RPG classic. Nothing big to point out, but the new way of using ranged weaponry (arrow rain on an area instead of target, for example), and pets. Pets now have their own skill bars to allow for pet diversity and not taking up what you do with your own bar! As for ranged weaponry, a good archer really takes aim, especially when using area effects - why not be able to bombard an area (hitting maybe 2 enemies further spread apart?). This really upped the idea of targetting in RPGS. August 25, 2010 Necromancer - The necro here almost seemed like a step backwards at first, when looking at just simply skills - but it was more than that. When they showed, it off, they showed what made IT so special - death shroud and stealing life force. Downed status was already its own challenge, but using Life Force to stay alive, automatically entering Death Shroud (or choosing so early) meant that there was a special reason to be a Necromancer. Necromancers now can control death besides use of their skills, and their minions don't require bodies. It made sense that the Necromancer returned, though not necessary. Of course, it does have importance in being the dark magic, anti-life casting. January 27, 2011 Guardian - After the holidays passed and people got to play with the professions and get to see the races, and we already saw the Blue Mace Lady, we got the Guardian, which was definitely something new, and put a twist on how RPGs really work. This really broke the concept of the RPG holy trinity (tank/dps/heal). The Guardian is both a powerful combatant and very protective, using shields, virtues, wards, bubbles, reflectors, team-based boons... it was certainly a serious upgrade to how players play. After hearing that monks were gone, people expected some form of defensive-strong profession, but besides the Blue Mace Lady leak, nobody expected the Guardian to be what it was. On top of strong defense, they can use spirit weapon summons that allow you to attack even with your shield up. March 11, 2011 Thief - The Thief was a great step towards something new to play with. I'm sure at least some players expected something similar to an assassin or rogue, as its a natural DPS type in all RPGs, but without the limits of the RPG trinity, this meant something new. Our version of the thief contained another upgrade to what already existed - escaping the battle entirely. Stealth and initiative meant giving the thief a very unique way to fight. Easily and quickly chain attacks together, followed by escaping into the shadows; and when you need to change the way the battle flows, you can steal something from the enemy, mixing up the fight. Take that, World of Warcraft. Your rogue just uses lots of quick attacks, nothing special. Again, there's a lot here that wasn't first seen or known when the Elementalist came out. In a year's time, what we have to play with has exploded - this is a lot. Not only are the classes growing more per reveal, the newly shown information on those already out and played with is growing, showing that they have high potential. These classes keep taking a step in a new direction. That's where the Commando and Mesmer will be at with their reveals. Just 2 weeks at least, and we'll see if the Mesmer is as great as everyone is speculating, or if the Mesmer really is "best for last".

04:52, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Mesmer, Ele, and the Engineer! Now with 100% more gunpowder! (oh, and the Mesmer)

So, the Engineer is out. Took them long enough. I guess they let the Commando take the place of a reveal. May 17, 2011 Engineer - The Engineer seems to be a powerhouse on the battlefield. With backpacks and tool kits, and of course their tool belt, they can switch up the fun at Elementalist speeds. Of course, the Engineer does all this switching through utility skills, slightly limiting them compared to the Elementalist, but it's still an advancement because of the Tool Belt over-skillbar skills. When we get to touch and feel this profession in the demos (maybe E3?), I think some gamers will faint. This is delivering a lot. April 27 - Elementalist June 9 - Warrior July 14 - Ranger August 25 - Necromancer January 27 - Guardian March 11 - Thief April 1 - Commando Joke May 17 - Engineer That's an average of 10 weeks between official reveals, which still fits the 5/5 for the reveal to officially come out... xD I guess the Mesmer will finally be revealed around July 1, assuming they don't make us wait til fall, like they made us wait through the autumn and winter months. At this point, I don't think it's right that we speculate whether or not the Mesmer WILL be revealed, but how, and what it can do. With all these great professions out now, it will really have to deliver. But I'd also like to talk about the Elementalist first (because I like eles). Plenty of new skills have been added from an artist's personal blog. Most of them look like underwater skills (which I complained about a while ago on the Feedback pages for GW2 mechanics), and have effects (based on names etc) that seem very underwater play-based. Some people say these are environmental weapons, but that doesn't sound like the Elementalist. Their skills change with their 4 attunements, and are based around using changing skills. It only makes sense that these skills change automatically when you begin "swimming" in water (compared to just standing in, say, a puddle). Not only that, but if you look at the regular skills, most of them have NO place in underwater gameplay, unlike other professions, although, I can bet other professions will have some changed skills; however, they get weapon switching, Elementalists require changing their skills in general to get by. Forcing an elementalist to ALWAYS be attuned to water to fight when swimming just seems silly. Most of the skills even look like they have bubbles in the background; ALL of the clearly underwater skills have the bubbles. Now that THAT rant is over... Onto the Mesmer. Cos there just isn't enough of it. Every profession has some over-toolbar skill(s). Attunements, Aggression Bursts, Pets, the Death Shroud, Virtues, Stealing, a Toolbelt... What can the Mesmer offer? Every profession also has distinctive skill forms. Elemental damage, untamed aggression, marked precision, minions and death, blocking/reflecting, exploitation, tools,... and we know the Mesmer has its illusions (from the books). SO THEN!! I think it's right to assume that the Mesmer will have some amount of stealth (through illusions), as well as skills that either stop skills (blackout condition), cause short-duration conditions, distort the screen (pvp), give protection boons (effectively turning a "real" hit into an illusion), or even allow teleportation effects. The mesmer has always been an indirect, POWERFUL caster... They have a lot to live up to just to keep that name to our loveable Guild Wars profession. PLEASE, I want to hear others talk on this!

19:19, 22 May 2011 (UTC)

Dragons/Lore

Not nearly as long as Mesmer speculations.

Our friend "Bubbles" hasn't been talked about at all lately... Probably has something to do with underwater gameplay not being fully touched on. The Elementalist's new skills listed (like Boil or Ice Mine) are clearly underwater skills, so we might be getting that information soon enough. Chances are, this will come with Sylvari Week on the GW2 Home Page, which I hope comes soon enough. The Sylvari live right on the Tarnished Coast by the Quaggan and others, so there's certainly some influence from "Bubbles" there. That may be next, with talk on the Hylek and Krait recently. I wouldn't be surprised if the Krait capturing others has something to do with "Bubbles" or its general. My guess: the general has tried influencing the Krait to have them branded like the Icebrood of Jormag, or those of the Dragonbrand of Kralkatorrik. Of course, the Krait are wily, and do what's necessary to survive and prove their dominance, so they bring other species like the Hylek or Humans as sacrifice for safety, while turning the others into an easy meal. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the Krait are already influenced in minor ways, controlling the ranks beneath them. I also wouldn't be surprised if Bubbles' wakening has anything to do with the Krait and their obelisk spires, or Bubbles' and/or its general has some heritage with the Krait. The Krait are, after all, much like water serpents, which are often seen as dragon-like. This keeps what Anet originally said true, about not all of the Elder Dragons being like the European Dragon style. A serpentine dragon would be very fitting for underwater gameplay. Feel free to discuss this?

23:04, 25 May 2011 (UTC)

Conventions

So this isn't quite a "speculation" grouping, but it is what I'd hope to see at the conventions. This is only important to me because summer is coming up and they have a couple Cons planned for their fans. x3

Summer 2011 series conventions

San Diego Comic-Con (July 21-24) - "Drop by the NCsoft booth to play Guild Wars 2 and try your hand at the engineer!" Gamescom (August 17-21) - "[...] a bunch of new surprises that we can’t talk about yet [...]" PAX Prime (August 26-28) - "[...] expect big surprises, cool swag, interesting panels [...]" Paris Games Week (October 21-25) - "[...] we’ll bring our hands-on demo [...]" That’s what we’ve got planned so far, but keep an eye/ear open for further announcements. It’s going to be an awesome summer for Guild Wars 2 fans! They've said it. There's a lot to excite GW2 fans, with potentially more conventions and other news bits coming. Recently, there's been the hype over Mesmer (when wasn't there?), so that may be one of the new surprises for Gamescom. There's also been talk over underwater skills and play, including the accidental release by an artist of Elementalist skills. This could very easily be the new skills that are coming this summer (reveals usually aren't timed TOO far apart between artists and devs). Summer is also known for swimming and beach parties, so I wouldn't be surprised if they tied that together. San Diego Comic-Con will probably have more info for the Asura and Sylvari, as they've been cut out of the last few major conventions. Humans, Charr, then Norn... Asura/Sylvari also match the more recent Hylek and Krait talk, just as the Norn Week followed the Kodan information. This could also be the new surprises promised for Gamescom. [They] can't talk about [whatever it is] yet... Sounds like an upcoming reveal of something major to me. Include the July 1 prediction of Mesmer, the Asura/Sylvari week reveal (along with the Sylvari updated appearance as something kept hidden), and underwater gameplay, it's not hard to deliver on that "awesome summer" promise. And only because I didn't mention Paris Games Week... It's Paris. Full of non-Canadian frenchies. In Europe. They didn't even give us any big promises. Like I care about Paris Games Week. (Watch it have all the big reveals instead xD) Oh hey look at that, this DID fit the speculations page!! xD

01:34, 1 June 2011 (UTC)