Beta Weekend announced

Is this an open beta? Only for people who pre-ordered/pre-purchased? Closed beta?

EDIT: And yes, I know Abba San said details are coming soon, but I'm looking forward to trying out GW2. :)
 
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http://www.killtenrats.com/2012/04/18/10-helpful-hints-for-the-guild-wars-2-beta-weekend-event/

10 Helpful Hints for the Guild Wars 2 Beta Weekend Event

Posted by Ravious on April 18, 2012 in Guild Wars 2. 7 Comments

Now that the Guild Wars 2 Beta Weekend Event (BWE) has been announced for April 27-29, I decided to make a small guide for those coming in to a fresh Tyrian world.

1. Welcome to IN MEDIA RES, SOLDIER!
I have seen a lot of comments about the opening scene in Guild Wars 2. Basically for 2 of the 3 racial starting areas we’ve seen, it is chaos. Ghosts popping out of nowhere in the charr area, centaurs running amok throughout a human starting area, and norn standing around their forest picking their ears while players hunt. Don’t fret! Players are practically given god mode in the opening area. There will be plenty of time and safety to fiddle with dye colors and key bindings after the opening scene. Press “W”+Mouse 1 should get you through the area. Try and learn what you can during this time, but you will get a chance to go more “at your own pace” afterwards.

2. Always Be Movin’

That is the golden rule for Guild Wars 2 combat. Don’t stop moving! Seriously, I don’t care whether you are a rifle-toting warrior or a greatsword-wielding ranger; don’t stop. If you find yourself in a red circle, then move faster. A stationary soldier is a dead soldier. Your #1 skill for each weapon will be an auto-attack so you can concentrate on moving while your character will keep trying to swing away. Make sure to use Mouse 2, or whatever, to face the enemy while you are circle-strafing. If you don’t like auto-attack then CTRL+click the skill to disable it. Be prepared to press “1″ a lot after that. I would also suggest keybinding dodge instead of double-tapping movement or mouse-clicking the button.

3. “I was in a queue?”
There is a queue in Guild Wars 2, but players are actually playing in it. Once a player gets through the queue a popup will invite the player to the “main” zone to get out of the “overflow” zone. Normally players would want to press yes to get to a higher populated zone, but if a player is having fun in the middle of an event, the player can press no to head back in to the queue.

4. Getting to PvP

After the starting area, to get to PvP open up the “H”ero menu (hint: press “h”) and there should be a tab on the left to get to PvP. You can enter a random match at will, but this is not recommended at first. Entering the Mists will change you to a level 80 character complete with traits and skills. It can be jarring to all of the sudden get 10 skills, weapon swapping, and all the rest. Take some time in this hub area to check out all the new things. Entering World v. World (WvW) will strip you of all the level 80 everything unlocked hotness and return you to your normal leveling career (sidekicked to level 80).

5. XP From Onions

Everybody can gather materials lying around the world which are identified by icons on the minimap (log, rock, and plant). Regardless of whether you check out crafting, you do want to gather materials. They provide significant XP, as much as a couple enemy kills, for simply pressing “f”. Then sell the onions to the chumps below.

6. Next Iron Chef

Crafting can be fun, and if you like to craft definitely check it out. I would recommend taking one of the “armor” professions, such as Leatherworking, so that you can craft bags for yourself. Anyway, cooking which make consumable buffs and the like is going to suck the time out of beta. Be forewarned, cooking can be a lot of fun, but it is hardcore. Also make sure to look for tabs from the merchants near the crafting areas.

7. Jump Around, Jump Around

Possibly one of the most fun side excursions built in to the PvE zones are the “jumping puzzles”. These small areas are a bit off the beaten path, and they will push your skill to the limits. The Demongrub Pits are in southeast Queensdale (human 1-15), the Shaman’s Rookery is on the west side of central Wayfarer’s Foothills (norn 1-15), and the charr have theirs at the Loreclaw Expanse in the Plains of Ashford (charr 1-15). They are amazing, and should not be missed. They give decent loot too.

8. WvW Together, Die Alone

World vs. World (WvW) can be a source for some constant activity. Hours can just bleed away fighting in the Mists for your world. A few tips. Find a group, and stick with them. If you go exploring all alone, don’t be surprised when 10 enemies run over the hill, trample you, and move on. Seriously, finding just a few other people can be enough to start grabbing objectives for your world. Also, always grab “supply” which is the lifeblood of WvW, wherever and whenever you can. Supply creates siege weapons from merchant-sold plans and heals your structures. And, guerrilla tactics are critical if you are outnumbered. Hit the enemy elsewhere if you can’t confront them directly. Taking down their supply chain can really shake things up.

9. Inverse Mass Effect
The greatest thing about Guild Wars 2 is simply playing together with random strangers and it being a positive, helpful experience. Unfortunately, when a mob of players hits some critical mass things can get a little unfun. The population seems to spread out quickly enough, but I would recommend that you take the time to get away from 40 players fighting an overgrown spider at level 4 to check out some of the other sights. Exploring the racial city almost nets enough experience for a whole level. There are hidden nooks and crannies everywhere. In other words, break from the herd if it feels too strong.

10. So, I Met This Norn

I’ve already suggested exploring the capital cities, and you should. If you later find out that your favorite new best friend (since they also pre-purchased and are as cool as you) rolled a different race than you, there are asura gates (purple portals on your city map) in each capital city that will warp you to the other race’s capital cities. ArenaNet also seems to lock out non-beta content at the warps, so for beta purposes you can sometimes warp to other races’ areas by hitting the warp at the edge of a zone. Either way you should be able to meet up with friends pretty quickly.
Have Fun! I can’t wait to hear all the stories from everybody.
–Ravious
 
I think #2 above is the most ingenious thing yet. HOW do these Arena Net developers find a solution for everything that frustrates me in MMOs?!?
 
Good info! Is there a download link yet? I hope they give enough time to allow for what I assume is a large download.
 
all the details come from their twitter feed.

some good ones:

Guild Wars 2 ‏ @GuildWars2

Good news!First Beta Weekend Event will be from April 27-29. We will let you know once the client is ready for download. ^MK

You will not have access to HoM, CE or pre-purchase items during the Beta Events. Those weill be available for headstart/launch. ^MK

There will be no "real" forums for a while. We will open them closer to launch. Beta forums will be open for the period of the beta. ^MK

The blog post with details will be published later today or tomorrow. As we said, the Beta Weekend Event will be April 27-29. ^RB

The Beta Weekend Events are not under NDA, so the answer is yes. ^RB

No, we always said pre-purchase guarantees access. Not pre-order. ^MK
 
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Ahh ok. I feel better now. *runs to follow GW2*

I thought I read somewhere that EVERYTHING (characters, guilds, etc.) will be wiped after Beta closes and before the release. Is this accurate? This will determine how LoE is set up in-game. If the beta data gets wiped I won't put much effort into a "beta guild." If it will carry over, I'll probably spend a majority of my time solidifying the guild for launch.
 
yes there will be a whipe before the launch of the head start, this is intended to review the game and stress the game and find bugs. The game will be reset for launch.
 
Here are the 2 images that were on the page
Image 1
Image 2
For those not able to get to the page

The Beta Weekend Event is Coming!

We’re counting the days until the first public Guild Wars 2 Beta Weekend Event, which begins on Friday, April 27, at noon PDT (GMT-8) and ends on Sunday, April 29, at 11:59 p.m. PDT (GMT-8). Hundreds of thousands of players from around the world will get their first taste of Guild Wars 2—and rest assured, we’ll be playing alongside them!

There are a couple important things you need to know about this Beta Weekend Event:

-The only way to absolutely guarantee your access to this or any future Beta Weekend Events is to pre-purchase any edition of Guild Wars 2.
-Customers who have pre-purchased the game will receive an e-mail next week with instructions on how to download the client and participate in the Beta.
-This is a public event, which means that you’re not bound by a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). So go ahead, feel free to take screenshots, shoot video, blog, tweet, write, or compose a rock opera to share your Guild Wars 2 experience with the world.

Let’s take a look at all the cool stuff you’ll be doing during the Beta Weekend Event.

Choices, Choices – You’ll create your own personalized charr, human, or norn character and pick from our eight powerful professions. Your choice of race is vital to your personal story, and it determines in which of the huge starting areas you begin as well. A noble human mesmer will have a radically different game experience than a charr engineer in the service of the Iron Legion. Fortunately, you can roll more than one character and sample each starting area for yourself!

Worlds Collide – If you want your PvP on an epic scale, look no further than World vs. World, where three teams comprising hundreds of players wage open war across four vast maps. You’ll lay siege to castles, raid supply camps, build devastating weaponry, ambush your foes, and leap into truly massive PvP battles—all for the glory of the server. We’re warning you: WvW is so addictive that you may spend the entire Beta Weekend Event there!
PvP For You and Me – After you’ve gotten your feet wet, put your newfound skills to the test in Guild Wars 2 PvP, where small teams battle for points on a variety of challenging, compact maps. We adjust the level of PvP combatants so that all players are on equal footing. If you’ve got a competitive streak or you like playing first-person shooters online, you owe it to yourself to try out Guild Wars 2 PvP!

I Love L.A. – For the first time ever, we’re opening the metropolis of Lion’s Arch to beta players. Wander the streets of this cosmopolitan trade hub, chat with traders and travelers from every corner of Tyria, hop through one of the many asura gates to points beyond, or discover the famed diving platform at Diverse Ledges. Lion’s Arch is a city like no other!

As you can see, there’s a ton of stuff to do in the upcoming Beta Weekend Event on April 27-29. It’s honestly way more content than one person can experience in 60 hours of playing—and we haven’t even included the asura and sylvari in this beta! Fortunately, this will not be the last Beta Weekend Event before launch—stay tuned for more news regarding the next event.

We’ll see you in-game!
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