The Asura (terrifying little sheep people) and the Sylvari (sinister giant plant people) aren’t the only things new to the final Beta Weekend that Guild Wars 2 is going to get before it heads into launch at the end of August. After this that’s it, that’s your lot, it’s all done. Over. Kaputt. So it’s a good thing there’s lots of stuff to keep you interested.
The highlight of the bunch, detailed in an ArenaNet blog post, is Keg Brawling, where manly Norn men, and manly Norn women, throw about a keg of ale on an icy lake while trying to get it into an ‘Ale Collector’, which is apparently not a codename for ‘Their Mouths’. Either way, you’ll be able to tackle, pummel, kick and generally upset your opponents as you compete for the privilege of holding a giant keg of ale and lobbing it about. I’d kind of love it if this became the Esport that arose out of GW2, rather than all that violent violence.
There’s also a brand new area, geared towards levels 17-20, called the Brisban Wildlands, a jungle near the Asura, Sylvari and Human starting areas, and it’s full of all sorts like Asuran secret labs, a Skritt city (Skrittsburgh), and a bunch of bandits and general undesirables. That’s the problem with property; you bring in commerce and business, and somehow the underbelly of society somehow creeps in. It’s worse when you’re in a jungle, granted.
Another PvP map has been added, Legacy of Foefire, which is a callback to Guild Wars, and a three capture point strategy along with ‘Guild Lords’ and all manner of team-specific NPCs. World v World v World, too, is getting a few additions, having ‘Sentries’ littered around the maps guarding control points that are fit for solo players to take out. That should round out the entire WvWvW experience so that anyone can play with any amount of people, even if that amount is none.
Finally, the scouts in each area will now be able to give you a flyby tour of the area, showing off the beautiful art and architecture of the world, and also give you more than just a map for reference when you head out to adventure in the region. Functional andpretty, who’da thunk it.
As this is the last weekend, your precious beta characters will be wiped, destroyed and disassembled into little pieces once its over. So cherish them, say your goodbyes at the end of the weekend, and try not to shed too many tears over their little virtual lives.
If you didn’t manage to nab one of our keys for the weekend, you can watch ArenaNet stream the entire weekend over on Twitch.tv, which is also pretty great.
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