Still plowing ahead on the original Guild Wars, ArenaNet launched a new update yesterday called the June 2011 PvP Update. It definitely has more than just PvP. Also, like many of the previous updates before it, it’s primary focus is change. Small changes can have big impacts. I feel this update is really aimed at making that impacting change that refines the experience. I am really glad that the Live Team takes initiative to change the status quo. Read on to see how it was un-quo’d.
On the PvE side there was one addition and huge change. The addition was the fan-favorite Titan quests added after Prophecies launch has been updated in to full hard mode capabilities and then some. Meet the level 42 Armageddon Lord, which is now the highest level mob in the game. The change comes from an economy side of things where the character-bound Zaishen coin currency is now tradable. It always was in a sense that objects purchased with “z-coins” were tradable, and I am glad ArenaNet decided to get rid of this unnecessary hurdle.
I am really interested to see how prices on the z-coins are going to stabilize and tie together gold currency and PvP faction. Gold and PvP faction already are tied together with the z-key staple, where 5,000 faction roughly equates to ~6,000 gold. To make sure this was not a change without effect, ArenaNet added some new very expensive weapon skins for the high-end player to chase.
The PvP side of things really got a shakeup starting with a GvG ladder reset. The ladder was reset in part because players now get emotes based on their guild’s ranking. In the smaller arenas, title points are awarded more frequently for consecutive wins in Codex Arena and Random Arena. Before the change, 5 consecutive wins were required to advance the corresponding arena’s title. Now players should see more title advancement as they play normally instead of cursing and screaming on a fifth round loss.
Finally, Imperial Cantha is tired of it taking so long for Luxons and Kurzicks to kill each other, a major roadblock for their continent’s isolation. They’ve instituted Imperial Faction and spy training so that Luxon allies can join Kurzick forces to kill Luxons, and vice versa. Imperial Faction works like a generic alliance faction and can be traded to Luxon or Kurzick representatives. For Alliance Battles this should get more people on the battlefield, but I am interested to see what’s going to happen in the assault-style Fort Aspenwood PvP map, where Luxons always attack and Kurzicks always defend.
The thrust of the update seems to be making it easier to play, be rewarded, and share the rewards. A lot of things were implemented in this update that the community has been requesting for awhile, and some things unasked were also put in. There are a lot of other small tidbits, and be sure to read the Developer Updates on this patch.
–Ravious
Might actually get back to some RA if it actually gives you a better return on time.
I don’t even play PvP, but the Imperial Faction sounds like a really good idea to me. Recent GW updates have been angled very much at making titles and rewards easier to achieve (since a lot of people are back online to build their hall of monuments) but it sounds like a lot of these PvP changes just remove irritations in the system.
I gotta get back into GW. At the moment I just feel too bombarded and like a noob. Everyone has played and done a lot of the level 20 content where I have only skimmed along the surface.
I only have a mere 500 hours under my belt and most of it wasn’t even productive. I have to get back into my HoM and push my points to at least 20-25. I know for sure I don’t want to commit and spend the time for 30+ points. I really am looking forward to starting fresh with Guild Wars 2 and keeping up with it. With Guild Wars I was younger and more easily distracted by other games so I just fell out of it. This PvP stuff sounds really cool and might motivate me to try some of it out.
Thanks for the update Ravious!