Photics.com

The Zboard passes my sandwich test. I’m not afraid to eat over this thing. Since the keysets are removable, it’s easy to shake crumbs out of them. I’m not sure if I would submerge a keyset in water though. I haven’t tested if the Zboard is dishwasher safe either.

I looked at my old keyboard and I had to decide if it was time to go back. I couldn’t do it. It was plain and boring. The Zboard is sexy. It was designed for someone like me – a player! Yet, when there’s work to be done, the Zboard can do that too. In addition to a standard keyboard layout, you can get business minded keysets. I was surprised to see keysets for Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Flash. If you spend your whole day in a single program, why wouldn’t you want a Zboard? It can make life easier, whether you’re playing games or doing work.

The Bottom Line: The Zboard is not the most ergonomic keyboard you can find, but it is definitely one of the sexiest keyboards around. It is fairly easy to switch keysets, but I seem to have settled on the Guild Wars keyset. I enjoy having a keyboard that reflects my interests. The Zboard can improve your game, as it clearly labels game commands. I’ve spent the last two years memorizing the details of Guild Wars, but the Zboard did show me some new tricks. Combine that with two extra USB ports and nine programmable function keys, the Zboard is also a boon for basic computing tasks. It’s a little on the spendy side, but that tends to happen when you mix fun and function. The Zboard took some getting used to, but I can’t see going back to a vanilla keyboard.

There are plenty of ways to express yourself in Guild Wars. Although, you’ll need to know the commands. If you do not know all the emote commands, there’s no need to get emotional. Photics.com has a Guild Wars emote list available for you.

Continue reading “Guild Wars Emote List”

Henchy – He groped me. It was clear that I would never be respected as a fighter. To TANK, I was nothing more than a play thing. I was a trophy to feed his ego. That’s when I left. I hope other henchmen follow my lead. We don’t deserve to be mistreated like this.

Photics – What are you doing now to make ends meet?

Henchy – I hunt Charr for steel. It’s a very lucrative business.

Photics – Thank you for sharing your story with us.

Henchy – Thanks for having me.

(TANK was not available for comment)

The purpose of this rather unorthodox article is not to make light of a serious issue. Sexual harassment is a very real problem. That’s exactly the point. The purpose of this article is to illustrate how real world issues can collide with a fantasy game. Have the new emotes created a Pandora’s box of rude behavior? Do you want to see a Warrior gyrating his pelvis like that? Can you be sexually harassed in an MMORPG?

I’m not personally offended by some of the new emotes, but I do find some of them out of place. I can see a Mesmer doing a jig, but I don’t think some of the other dance emotes fall into character. More importantly, should ArenaNet be concerned how mischievous behavior can result from the current environment? It doesn’t take a social engineer to figure out what happens when you combine an underwear donning female Elementalist with a thrusting Warrior.

I wrote this article to present the issue to the community. How does the rest of the Guild Wars community feel about the emotes? Do you think emotes should be censored, to discourage sexual connotations, or should they be left as is? Have you ever felt uncomfortable when other players flagrantly used the emotes for deviant means?

All else aside… while I love the new emotes, TANK just can’t dance. Perhaps this is an inside joke from ArenaNet, to take a shot at the dance emotes from other MMORPGs? This is beta after all, and ArenaNet is known for making jokes. So… how do you think the Guild Wars emotes compare to other MMORPGs?

Gaile Gray (Continued)

So, if that’s what you don’t get, what do you get with instanced missions? With instanced missions, you can change the world, and all that is in the world can be yours.

• Choose your partners: When you want a cooperative mission, the only people at your side are those you invite. No backstabbers, no loot stealers, no spawn campers.
• Explore the world: Travel at your own pace, undertake battle or avoid confrontation, as you see fit. Meet your friends with the click of a button.
• Change the world: Blow up a bridge, burn down a building, reroute a waterway.
• Conquer the world: Win the battle or complete the quest and the rewards belong to you and your teammates alone.

Photics: Some MMORPGs are dropping dead before they release, while others are enjoying a plethora of expansions. This makes me wonder about Guild Wars. What is the planned lifespan for Guild Wars? Will there forever be expansions?

Gaile Gray: Guild Wars will have an extended lifespan; there is truly no end in sight for this project. Actually, this is an interesting question, and a chance to share a little bit of company history. The whole reason the company was formed was to make Guild Wars. That is, Michael O’Brien, Jeff Strain and Patrick Wyatt didn’t form a company and then look around and think “What do we make first?” They formed the company expressly to make the game that came to be called Guild Wars.

The ArenaNet founders had worked together on a few projects, and had then become team leads for three separate projects. They had enjoyed working together, and as the years passed, during conversations and game discussions, they had come to realize that they shared a large number of “Wouldn’t it be great if we could make a game that…” ideas. The idea of building a game that would change the way games are made, the way they were distributed, and they way they were played became so enticing that Patrick, Jeff, and Mike were willing to give up their positions with an established game development company and pull up stakes to move to Washington State to start ArenaNet.

All of that is a preamble to say that not only was the vision of Guild Wars the first concept, in fact it was and remains the only concept. The first chapter of Guild Wars will be released in the near future. (And can be sampled in our World Preview Event on October 29 through 31. Small plug there 🙂 ) After Guild Wars is on shelves, the current team will become two. Half will serve as the “live team” for Guild Wars’ first chapter, creating and streaming new content to you, fixing bugs or exploits, keeping everything in topnotch working order. The second team will get busy creating content for Chapter 2. Our focus is and will remain the Guild Wars world. We will all be supporting the games that have been released, expanding the story, building upon the legacy of the title.

Thanks to Photics/Mike for your continued support of Guild Wars, and for one fine e-zine! We know every Guild Wars fans looks forward to with great anticipation on the 1st of each month.