Four riders, emotions and Guild Wars.

A sinister pact, a fragile alliance and a shattered promise.
Two of The Four are reported missing, one last sighted in The Third Kingdom and the other trapped in the Forge Lands by some trick of the Crowfather.
Turmoil and despair churn at the feet of all creation and already humanity has paid the price. It wasn't like the stories, there was no resistance, there wasn't even a battle.
The earth broke open and humankind was wiped out in hours by demons or the wild chaotic earth that swallowed them, writhing in pain as the dimensions opened all around the planet.
Whispers pass through the realms, a corruption is spreading and a greater plan is slowly revealing itself as worlds and species begin to crumble, leaving only nothingness in its wake.
They say Death himself battles the corruption as he tries to redeem his brother War, falsely accused of starting the end times, who fights a desperate battle on Earth in which he clings to life and duty.
But what of the last two? Where are Fury and Strife?
When War was summoned his siblings must have felt his presence, sensed his peril and leapt to action, for is that not the bond the Four share?
Unthinkable, voices rumor, that the fierce but calculated rider named Fury would not take part in Death's quest or that his valiant brother Strife would see events play out from the sideline.
Where did they all go? Are they too working on ways to redeem War or assist Death? Time will tell.
Even more unthinkable would be to realize that The Four might be shattered, worlds apart and not imbued with the Charred Council's blessing, alone, lost and worst of all...mortal.
Where is Lucifer, the Ruler of  Hell? The mad queen Lilith? Samael the Blood Prince?
It would not be unlikely to see their hand in all of this somehow, perhaps Lucifer has lured Strife or Fury away with a false promise of helping their brothers to prevent their gaze from seeing the scheming that seems to surround this endwar. Perhaps all of the Horsemen are being set up by sinister forces that fear them, for many secrets have been kept from the Four throughout time for no other reason but fear of what they would do with the power.
Many rulers have lorded over Heaven, Hell or the lands between, but only one group is as renowned as they are feared, their unshakeable duty to the Balance and each other unquestionable.
They are the riders, the last of the Nephilim, the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

A sinister pact, a fragile alliance and a shattered promise.
Two of The Four are reported missing, one last sighted in The Third Kingdom and the other trapped in the Forge Lands by some trick of the Crowfather.
Turmoil and despair churn at the feet of all creation and already humanity has paid the price. It wasn't like the stories, there was no resistance, there wasn't even a battle.
The earth broke open and humankind was wiped out in hours by demons or the wild chaotic earth that swallowed them, writhing in pain as the dimensions opened all around the planet.
Whispers pass through the realms, a corruption is spreading and a greater plan is slowly revealing itself as worlds and species begin to crumble, leaving only nothingness in its wake.
They say Death himself battles the corruption as he tries to redeem his brother War, falsely accused of starting the end times, who fights a desperate battle on Earth in which he clings to life and duty.
But what of the last two? Where are Fury and Strife?
When War was summoned his siblings must have felt his presence, sensed his peril and leapt to action, for is that not the bond the Four share?
Unthinkable, voices rumor, that the fierce but calculated rider named Fury would not take part in Death's quest or that his valiant brother Strife would see events play out from the sideline.
Where did they all go? Are they too working on ways to redeem War or assist Death? Time will tell.
Even more unthinkable would be to realize that The Four might be shattered, worlds apart and not imbued with the Charred Council's blessing, alone, lost and worst of all...mortal.
Where is Lucifer, the Ruler of  Hell? The mad queen Lilith? Samael the Blood Prince?
It would not be unlikely to see their hand in all of this somehow, perhaps Lucifer has lured Strife or Fury away with a false promise of helping their brothers to prevent their gaze from seeing the scheming that seems to surround this endwar. Perhaps all of the Horsemen are being set up by sinister forces that fear them, for many secrets have been kept from the Four throughout time for no other reason but fear of what they would do with the power.
Many rulers have lorded over Heaven, Hell or the lands between, but only one group is as renowned as they are feared, their unshakeable duty to the Balance and each other unquestionable.
They are the riders, the last of the Nephilim, the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Well hope GW2 lives up to your expectations but I honestly suspect most of them, particularly on the story front, may fall a little short.

Grabbed GW2 in the preorder a few days before launch & enjoying the hell out of it, quite amazed how they structured it so two of the same profession but different backgrounds/races can make huge sections of the game quite different to see. Still having a tough time after playing a few hours on deciding who to keep going with between the necromancer, elementalist, thief & mesmer. Only thing I don't like about it is the fact that it locks you to one server (joined with friends on US:Darkhaven), guess I'm so used to WoW where you can start over on another server instead of transferring & with how much I'm enjoying of the game so far, starting over wouldn't be a bad thing. Have fun in GW2 as looking at the map, it's freaking huge ground to cover & plenty of new things to see.

I'm enjoying all this blogging you're doing. You've got a good writing style that is easy to read. The spacing after every sentence still throws me off sometimes but it's something I'm getting used to.

All this talk of Guild Wars 2 has me wanting to play it but MMO's have never been my thing. I prefer playing things by myself and not needing a whole group of people in my party to advance anywhere which is what MMO's seem to thrive on.

@fox01313

@Cyrus_Saren

Really liking the look of Strife; he kinda resembles a Protoss. I still haven't completed Darksiders II yet (balancing my time between Darksiders II along with Sleeping Dogs, and the occasional revisit to Uncharted 3's multiplayer), but from what I've gathered neither Strife nor Fury actually make a physical appearance in the game? =(

The story in GW2 branches quite a lot actually and things you do later on affect it too, not just the choices you pick when creating your character. The voice acting and custscenes aren't on par with TOR, but there definitely seems to be a lot more variation and branches.

Don't think Strife can be called "valiant", if anything he seems the most temperamental of the 4 and the most prone to nastiness.

I'm kinda scared of GW2, was planning to try it out but now that it's here i don't feel the same draw anymore, plus WoW kinda ruined my Uni degree (which turned out a good thing eventually but still). I know if i'll pick it up it will eat away a huge amount of time, but Borderlands 2 still being a ways away i might still cave in and buy it at some point.

@Yummylee: nope

It bums me out a bit that Vigil dropped the classic quadfecta of War, Death, Famine, and Pestilence* for what essentially seems like War, Death, and two lesser aspects of War. I feel like Famine and Pestilence could have been worked into more interesting characters overall. I'm still not more than five minutes into Darlsiders 2 yet thanks to the recent release of Dark Souls, so maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised once I play more.

[Insert clever segue] Who uses Facebook anymore? I thought all the cool kids were into carrier pigeons these days.

--

*Yes, I'm aware that Wikipedia says that Pestilence = Conquest, but that's not as exciting.

I wish that were a real warning on Facebook (it's not, right?). I have a workaround that keeps me from getting into to much trouble in that regard though, I stay the hell away from Facebook.

Also I barely ever date. Of course that just means I have a different set of problems to deal with.

@TaliciaDragonsong:

I'm mainly going of on the one real appearance we have of him in the comic, when he shoots a demon. Also name Strife and levelheaded don't go together so much imo. His looks and visual design (not the one in your image, that helm makes him look a bit more knighly then official version) also seem to imply someone very active/violent. As well as guns normally considered less noble then martial weapons, their choice more "practical" reinforcing the rogue like image to me. Anyways it's just a vibe i always got off of him. (plus the 4 also kind of already have a horseman with a noble streak - War)

Tell you what we can have a friendly wager on it :P

And then if/when the next game comes out see who waas closer (if this convo is still remembered and if we are even around lol).

@TaliciaDragonsong:

Goodbye!

Thanks for the awesome blogs and quality comments!

I imagine GW2 is going to eat up your blogging time now. So I'll count myself lucky if we see you around here much if at all.

As for me I don't think I can let myself play it, I don't think I could play an MMO responsibly where I'd still show up for work etc. Looks pretty awesome, too fun for me.

I hear you on exes- the worst is seeing their new kids when you're still single. You know they are completely over you when they are really happy to show Kid pics etc. Means you are back in the "friend zone".

@pyromagnestir: @TaliciaDragonsong: I suggest Chrome Nanny, you can even tell it to redirect you towards another web page (your favorite YouTube video, or a YouTube video asking if you stoopid.)

That was a gorgeous opening, Talicia. So much better than most fantasy fiction these days.

Exes are tough. I know how you feel.

Still can't wait to hear more about GW2!

@TaliciaDragonsong: Heh, ok, you win!

I wouldn't mind a Vulgrim game because Vulgrim be awesome. He is probably one of my most favourite merchants in games of all time.

@TaliciaDragonsong:

I was trying to be funny by saying "goodbye". My friends and I kid each other in this way whenever we get a new game, we're really excited about (saying things like "talk to you next year!" etc!).

Sorry that wasn't clear. I'm clearly not the writer you are!

about your ex- Wow that does blow. Yeah that's a really tough situation emotionally. But what can you do? Getting involved in an ex's personal life doesn't usually lead anywhere good from what I've seen. But it's also hard not to be upset when you see something like that if you still like the person on some level...

@TaliciaDragonsong:

nah not defensive, just attempting to apologize for my own lack of communicating skill, which apparently now includes reading comprehension as well as writing. :)

anyway Cheers!

@TaliciaDragonsong said:

@Slag: Emo!

Hah! no one has ever called me that before! That's too funny.

thx , you just made my day! :)

I watched the GW2 quicklook here on GB. Looks like the staff aren't impressed. To them, it's just more of the same. Nothing new. I personally don't think anything can really surprise us anymore in the MMOG genre. The fact that the game is polished and doesn't require a monthly fee is good enough.

I think since the GB staff need to keep playing new games for a living, they can't really devote much time to any single title. As such, they've kinda lost sight of what it is about a game like GW2 that keeps people interested for so long. It's like...First impression: More of the same. This sucks. Gotta move on.

And you're right. Throw the most amazing game out there and there will be detractors. I guess it's unavoidable.

Exes are always tough. Then again when you end up on their Facebook page and see how they've let themselves go you get a warm malignant fuzzy feeling. I never got into MMOs. The first game I ever got on my PS2 back when I was but a young lad was DMC, after which anything that doesn't respond with alacrity to every single button input rubs me the wrong way. I don't even mind menial tasks and incessant questing, but I like me a controller to go with my third-person action and I like said action to be snappy.

I think I might buy darksiders 2 I hope its worth the money.

@TaliciaDragonsong said:

@adam1808: To each their own! I love (good) MMO's because they offer such a huge and varied world, a lot of races and cool personalities. I love getting to a quest hub or small homestead and learning the owner's backstory and helping them out by murdering the evil cult nearby etc. The one experience that I will never forget is the quest chain in the Misty Mountains in Lord of the Rings Online. You meet a hunter, suffering badly from a poison and near death, you cure him and help him gain revenge for his lost brother on the beasties that got them. In the end you are responsible for making sure he lives and keeping food on his plank until he's cured enough to hunt again. The way that quest was written was worth the running back and forth to the evil lizard's cave for sure! :P I do appreciate console games as well but MMO's are just that tad bigger for me, I love the immersion.

They've got a lot to recommend them to be sure. The way console games are going with games like Skyrim I get my immersion on without needing to roll a tank. GW2 does seem like the way to do that style of game in this day and age though. It's really weird talking about MMORPG's as straight MMO's now I think about it.

@TaliciaDragonsong said:

@adam1808: I love that there's so little focus on the trinity, sure you can heal or tank with certain classes/weapon sets but my Thief and Mesmer are both having amazing times with no real hardships that force me to take a tanking role for example. My friend the Elementist is also having a good time with his skills and he too seems to not run into roadblocks that force him to play a specific way. I love it.

The fact that MMO's have become so focused on the trinity that it's notable when a game breaks away from it is kind of scary. Nice to know you're enjoying it though. Maybe more developers can learn from ArenaNet's subscription-less model and not be shut down in the near future.