Broke down and purchased Sunday night, found an old link directly to the downloader, and a few hours later, had this glorious music playing on a login screen.
My fear that I would work late, have 3 meals I had to cook, etc. were realized late Monday, having to work an hour over due to an upgrade that didn't go as planned. A late dinner, and it was 7pm est already, 2 hours from shutdown. My newborn daughter decided she wanted to be held and walked for a bit, so we strolled down the street and back. My wife settled in on the couch to watch some tv and hold the baby, and I had a few moments to attempt a login.
I got right in without the well-documented error-9 code, chose a server, and started through character creation. I went with human necro just to see how it played, and into the intro I went. I caught bits and pieces here and there, being pulled away to do some kitchen cleanup and pay some bills.
Getting back in game, I'm standing in a nighttime area with a lot of busy-ness going on around me - centaurs and seraph fighting and such. I kill a few centaurs, rez a guard or two, and start following the familiar green glowy blob on my map. I'm quickly ushered toward the garrison, where I help defend against and incoming rush of centaurs. I notice that my skills don't respond at first, but on try 3 or 4, the skill fires off. I can't tell if it's lag or if I'm cancelling the skill mid-cast.
The earth elemental fight had a nice lead-in, and was utter glorious chaos. I am quickly summoned to help soothe a crying baby as another cutscene plays, and upon returning find myself in shaemoor village.
Not wanting to spoil the storyline, I go exploring. Within a nearby cave, I happen upon some bandits. They have been amassing in a nearby farmyard, so I figured they needed a good talking-to. 10 minutes later, I have secured a meeting with the bandit chief, who promptly kicks me out of his office by way of his rifle.
A guildmate calls my cellphone to see if I made it in, and he parties up with me a few moments later. I spend the next several minutes helping guide the heir to Prince Rurik's spirit through several massive waves of centaurs. Just when I think I know where he's going, he sprints of in another direction to aggro even more centaurs. When there's a few of us there, my skills seem to fire off immediately, but a group of 20 plus baddies seems to slow skill reaction time.
I am then reassigned to take careful watch over a baby, who has become enamored with trying to stare at her own nose. She has also developed a case of the hiccups, and requires soothing by sitting in a bouncy seat near my chair. Having completed those hearts, I move on to take a quick dip in the fish and drake lake nearby. I have a strong aversion to fish, and nearly drown on a few occasions.
Moving on, I make my way back to the farms and go spider squishing. I am notified of another event - baby crying nearby. I also notice the clock, and shutdown is nearing. Picking up my daughter, I close gw2 for the night, and a moment later, hear that the test has completed. Not a bad night overall.
