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Theres been a lot of news coming out of ArenaNet about the April feature pack for Guild Wars 2, and today they dropped a huge announcement. Starting on April 15th, GUild Wars 2 is going to be getting Megaservers. That sounds great, because clearly Mega is better than normal, right?
So…what does it actually mean. Basically, ArenaNet is making it easier to play with friends on every PvE map, no matter their homeworld. This change is geared at creating a more social experience for players. In essence, the new system is going to make it more likely that you’ll be placed on a map that has more of your friends/guildmates, people who speak the same language as you, and more people that you regularly see in game. According to ArenaNet, this will lead to maps having more players adventuring per map, giving you a better experience overall.
With the new system, ArenaNet is ditching overflow maps. Instead, the system creates as many maps as needed, assigns players to the version that makes the most sense based on factors like party, guild, and language.Interestingly, it seems the system will dynamically create new maps as needed, eliminating that artificial limit that had people bouncing off of servers as they tried to get a group of friends all in one place. In addition, all maps are now created equal, so it becomes more about the people you are playing with, rather than trying to get into that one map instance that has spawned the right encounter you need to get that nice shiny level 80 helmet. While the system weights the load in favor of players now, it is using a ton of data gathered behind the scenes to do this. No, ArenaNet isn’t spying on you. But they are leveraging all the in game meta-data they have access to to try and optimize your PvE experience in Tyria.
Personally, I’m excited about this. It can be hard to get together enough people to tackle difficult encounters (looking at you Tequatl) during non-peak hours, not to mention the fact that certain Living World moments require a large group – unless you like being pounded into the ground. The new system should make it a lot easier to get a group together to tackle these when I want to play in the middle of the afternoon, instead of waiting till evening primetime. Of note, however is that this does NOT remove region restrictions. Players are still grouped by NA and EU servers. It also does not change your homeworld, nor does it change which world receives Guild Influence. ArenaNet also hasn’t announced how this will be affecting world bosses and World v World yet, though they do promise that information will be coming soon.
All in all, it seems like ArenaNet is making a concerted effort to make the PvE experience more seamless and more player oriented by allowing you to join up with friends and guildmates more easily. The Megaserver system launches with the APril Feature Pack on level 1-15 maps, cities and the PvP lobby. Once ArenaNet is satisfied everything is working correctly, they’ll roll it out to the rest of Tyria by the end of 2014.
For more on Guild Wars 2 and the Megaserver roll out, stay tuned to Sanitarium.fm
Sometimes the good April Fools Day jokes have a slightly longer setup time than average.
A few days ago, Killzone.com had an article uploaded with pictures of what looked like posters for a supposed Killzone movie that was due to be made and released at the end of the year: Killzone: A Helghasty Adventure. With a trailer to release on April the 1st.
The announcement of the movie lists the story as being set after the Helghast settle on the planet Vekta and follows “the adventures of Ghoran – an Insurgent who has to prevent Kellan from stopping the war, and Halla his rogue Vektan accomplice.” It also lists the two main stars as “Johnny Dep and Helena Bonam Carter” with the director being “Tim Burtun”. Parts of the article also suggest that it would be an animated or claymotion feature, similar to the real Burton’s films in the past.
Comments on the site show that most people have realised this isn’t a real thing but the fact that it was announced on the 29th of March seems to have caught a few people out, with one or two in the middle about whether this is or isn’t a joke. Some have even begun to discuss who they would like to see direct and star in a Killzone movie, which I suppose Guerilla Games could take as some sort of feedback in case they were ever planning on making a real one.
Either way, that poster is well-done. Kudos to the artist for capturing that Burton-esque feel.
Wait a minute… GAME is still alive and well?!? Seems like it, since The Pokémon Company International has once again announced it’s teaming up with the UK-based specialist retailer to once again offer a distribution event promoting Pokémon X and Y and the new XY Trading Card Game Expansion. Colour me surprised.
From Friday 4th April, anyone who brings their 3DS into any GAME store across the United Kingdom, with a copy of Pokémon X or Y inside, can claim a free Pokémon for their game. Players with Pokémon X can receive Magmar free upon request, whilst those with Pokémon Y copies can claim Electabuzz. Additionally, both will be holding their respective Trade Evolution item – the Magmarizer and Electirizer respectively – meaning these free Pokémon can be traded to a trusted friend to obtain their evolved forms – Magmortar and Electivire!
As if that wasn’t enough, there’s a bonus for fans of the Trading Card game too. At each store while stocks last, you’ll be able to get a Pokémon TCG: XY special sampling pack containing a card from the new expansion along with a special “holographic” Pikachu card. Who doesn’t love free stuff?
