28 replies to this topic

[IMG News]

NCsoft, developer of the Guild Wars franchise, today announced the release of a Mac beta version of the online fantasy roleplaying game Guild Wars 2. Created in cooperation with TransGaming, using the Cider Portability Engine, Guild Wars 2 features a world evolving in response to player actions, fast paced action, cooperative gampelay, and player vs. player combat.

Today we’re happy to announce another major milestone in the development of Guild Wars 2: going forward, ArenaNet will also be supporting the game on Apple’s Mac OS X. The Mac Beta client is available immediately for all Guild Wars 2 players. It shares the same features and connects to the same live game servers as the PC client. Anyone who purchases Guild Wars 2 can now play it on both PC and Mac.

Bringing Guild Wars 2 to the Mac is huge for us, because it introduces the game to an entire group of players who are often ignored by game developers. The ability to play together with your friends is one of the underlying principles of Guild Wars 2, and providing a Mac client means that friends and guildmates can play together regardless of what operating system they favor.

On top of it all, ArenaNet staffers are big fans of Macs. We offer them as part of our employee laptop subsidy program, and our president Mike O’Brien is rarely seen without his Mac laptop. We’re as excited as anyone to play Guild Wars 2 on OS X.

The Mac Beta is available to anyone who has purchased or purchases Guild Wars 2. All you need is an active Guild Wars 2 account to download the Mac Beta client. Just log in to account.guildwars2.com and click Download Client to get started. If you have any questions, check out our Mac FAQ.

Keep in mind as you play the Mac Beta that it is a beta product. Performance and system requirements aren’t finalized. Review the beta hardware specification, and understand that your overall experience will be better when we release the final version. Even though it’s a beta, the Mac client does connect to the same live environment that the PC client connects to.

To bring Guild Wars 2 to the Mac, ArenaNet worked with our partners at TransGaming, whose Cider technology allows us to mirror the game experience as closely as possible between the PC and Mac. This means that future updates to Guild Wars 2 will be available for both platforms simultaneously.

Learn more at the links below.

Return to Full Article - InsideMacGames News

[Wumpus]

Was not expecting this.

I'm not an MMO player but a lot of my friends are getting this so I was curious. I'm just sad you have to buy the game just to try the beta. I thought the whole point of beta was that you didn't have to buy it yet and try the game out I don't know if I'd like it enough to buy it.

[doh123]

Its a beta client, not a beta of the game... the beta client is the full game on the live servers along with all the paying people.

I would like a free trial for the game as well, but from what I've heard they are having problems with the amount of people playing and trying to build stuff up to support everyone, so it may be a long time until they need to put out a free trial.

[Frigidman]

Yeah, the way so many MMO failures are these days, I just can NOT buy an MMO without a trial period or viable in-game preview of actual interface, dynamics, and gameplay. I've been burned way too many times to even consider an MMO again unless I can try it first.

[Hobeaux]

well, i usually get bored with game mechanics pretty quickly—by the time i'm done with a demo, i'm ready to move on to something else. while a demo can alert players to problems, it can also keep cheapskates like me from buying

[Frigidman]

Hehe... well... a bad UI, clumsy setup, pitiful camera controls, and terrible logic in all things you have to deal with constantly, put me off from buying a MMO. I don't care how many OMG USERS play it... if it sucks, it sucks. Look at WoW.

[Nox]

Well, I'm excited. I'm in an MMORPG mood again, and with WH dead, WoW just not a thing I can do anymore, and EvE too much like a second job, GW2 may just be the thing...

[UmarOMC1]

I watched the GT video review. Good review.

[Thain Esh Kelch]

 Frigidman, on 19 September 2012 - 07:05 PM, said:

Hehe... well... a bad UI, clumsy setup, pitiful camera controls, and terrible logic in all things you have to deal with constantly, put me off from buying a MMO. I don't care how many OMG USERS play it... if it sucks, it sucks. Look at WoW.

Hey, WOW was excellent back in the Vanilla days, when it wasn't a hold-your-hand kiddy game!

[Janichsan]

 Thain Esh Kelch, on 20 September 2012 - 02:24 AM, said:

Hey, WOW was excellent back in the Vanilla days, when it wasn't a hold-your-hand kiddy game!

But it has Kung-Fu Pandas now! How can you not like that?

[Nox]

 Janichsan, on 20 September 2012 - 02:47 AM, said:

But it has Kung-Fu Pandas now! How can you not like that?

By not being Korean?

[Nox]

Ok, I'm giving this a try! Downloading as we speak. I'll report back to you on the experience. Wish me luck.

[ikir]

This was unexpected... i'm really tempted and as far as i understand there is no monthly fee? Right?

[Wumpus]

No monthly fee, just buy the game and thats it.

[Thain Esh Kelch]

 Janichsan, on 20 September 2012 - 02:47 AM, said:

But it has Kung-Fu Pandas now! How can you not like that?

I have to admit that the new expansion is the one I've found to be most interesting personally. I like the pandas!

[Nox]

I took the plunge, and no regrets so far—was up playing until well after midnight. GW2 runs silky smooth on my 27" iMac (2.8 GHZ Core i7, 4GB Ram, and an ATI Radeon HD 4850 512 MB, running Mountain Lion), at 2560 x 1440 with almost all graphics settings (including FSAA) maxed out. The game's a blast, very beautiful to look at, with thoughtfully designed mechanics. My first impression is that the developers took into consideration all the best ideas from the MMORPG's that came before GW2, and it shows. Where they re-invented the wheel, they only made it rounder. There's no monthly fee, and a proper Mac client is in the pipes. I'd say if you feel tempted, go for it (and say hello to the struggle against the temptation to play this all day and night).

[mmcd]

I've been playing the Windows version on my boot camp drive for two weeks now. It's a solid game. Lengthy PVE grind that remains fun despite some relatively narrow character development choices, an absolutely stellar approach to PVP, and some other interesting qualify of life additions to the genre as well. Is it worth $60 to other people, I can't say, but I certainly have no regrets, and will probably be giving the mac client a whirl this weekend.

[ikir]

Mmmm with these comments are really tempted..... i hate you guys

[Thain Esh Kelch]

 Nox, on 21 September 2012 - 09:31 AM, said:

I took the plunge, and no regrets so far—was up playing until well after midnight. GW2 runs silky smooth on my 27" iMac (2.8 GHZ Core i7, 4GB Ram, and an ATI Radeon HD 4850 512 MB, running Mountain Lion), at 2560 x 1440 with almost all graphics settings (including FSAA) maxed out. The game's a blast, very beautiful to look at, with thoughtfully designed mechanics. My first impression is that the developers took into consideration all the best ideas from the MMORPG's that came before GW2, and it shows. Where they re-invented the wheel, they only made it rounder. There's no monthly fee, and a proper Mac client is in the pipes. I'd say if you feel tempted, go for it (and say hello to the struggle against the temptation to play this all day and night).

Can't beat FTP!

[Frigidman]

The "No monthly fee" thing is enticing. I hate having to pay each month. Even worse if I never got around to playing that month. Then debating every month if I should /cancel or not. Its basically a lifetime subscription, which is something I liked when LOTRO offered it.