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Bonjour tout le monde, ici Regina Buenaobra. En tant que responsable de l’équipe Communauté pour le secteur nord-américain chez ArenaNet, j’ai le plaisir de vous annoncer le lancement de notre nouveau blog Tumblr dédié à Guild Wars 2.

Tumblr s’apprête à devenir votre destination numéro 1 pour le contenu Guild Wars 2 créé par les fans. Créations graphiques, vidéos, photos de cosplay… Vous pourrez y découvrir les mille et une façons dont les fans de Guild Wars 2 expriment leur passion.

Quelle est la différence avec nos pages Facebook, Twitter ou Google+, où nous exposons déjà les œuvres de nos fans ? Vous aurez la possibilité de nous envoyer directement vos créations grâce au formulaire de contribution de notre blog Tumblr. Contribuez aussi en ajoutant le tag « GW2 Fan Submission » à vos publications, nous signalant que votre billet peut être reblogué sur notre Tumblr. Nous examinerons régulièrement les contributions et les billets étiquetés, et partagerons les meilleurs d’entre eux avec la communauté.

Vous y trouverez aussi les dernières ressources multimédia sur nos mises à jour du Monde vivant. Et pour en profiter plus simplement, une page spéciale leur sera dédiée, alors visitez-la fréquemment pour ne rater aucun détail !

Si vous utilisez déjà Tumblr, abonnez-vous pour recevoir nos publications directement dans votre tableau de bord. Quelques posts du Tumblr seront republiés sur Facebook, Twitter ou Google+. Mais pour ne rien rater de nos publications, abonnez-vous à notre Tumblr ou ajoutez-le à votre lecteur de flux RSS seront les seuls !

Abonnez-vous dès maintenant sur guildwars2.tumblr.com, et à bientôt sur Tumblr !

Écoutez deux somptueux extraits musicaux issus de la saison 2, qui débute le 1er juillet avec l’épisode « À l’orée de Maguuma ».

(Cliquer pour accéder)

Dans cette vidéo, Maclaine Diemer, un des compositeurs des musiques de Guild Wars 2, vous donne un aperçu de la bande son de la saison 2, interprétée par un orchestre et enregistrée en Allemagne.

The wait for Guild Wars 2's Season 2 is finally over! Today, players will dig into the next arc of the living story with the new Gates of Maguuma content (or save the content for later by unlocking it in their story journals). What exactly is in store? If you don't mind a few spoilers, we've got some of those answers for you right now.

Back at E3 2014, ArenaNet Associate Game Director Steven Waller and Studio Design Director Chris Whiteside gave us a recap of the first season, but they also gave us a preview of the second. And yes, that next step is through a portal into a whole new zone!

Scarlet Briar: Gone but not forgotten

Whiteside emphasized that Scarlet Briar -- the evil nemesis from Season 1 -- is definitely dead. She's not coming back. But that doesn't mean that her influence will not be felt; even in death, Scarlet remains a threat as the seeds that she planted during her life continued to grow. "There are definitely repercussions for all of Scarlet's actions," Waller told us. "You don't blow up a city and have it be like, 'OK, never talk about that, never play into that.'" The living story is all woven together, and the past is what the present is built on. Waller stressed,

"It is a continuation. We're not saying Season 1 stands by itself and Season 2 stands by itself in terms of story, in terms of the plot, and in terms of the characters. There's definitely that continuation."

Whiteside added that while the second season is an ongoing arc, the natural flow of the storytelling will reveal more about Scarlet's plotting before players got to know her. In fact, he emphasized that "the longer Season Two goes on, the more interested players are going to be in having access to Season One." He explained,

"She went on a journey to get to the point that she did, and the events that occur here interweave with sections of her journey. Through going on this journey with your band of players, you see it from her side. You learn about parts of her journey, which then basically tells you what happens in Season One."

So what about players coming late to GW2, people who never experienced any of the first season and can't access it through the Story Journal? Whiteside agreed with us that people need to be able join in and have fun, no matter when they drop into the story. And Waller assured us that the model Anet has adopted will allow anyone to jump in and thoroughly enjoy the second season without having to be concerned about missing the first. He elaborated:

"If you played Season 1, you'll get a slightly richer story or experience. We've structured it in such a way that you can come in and participate in the season or in any episode and have a level of completion, not only from a gameplay standpoint but also in the story."

Basically, there's a variety of different layers to the story arcs, from a single episode to a season to multiple seasons, so players who participate in any of them will be able to have a rewarding experience that makes sense. However, those who play through more will get more depth from the experience.

The story continues

And now, on to the story that awaits! Warning: If you really don't want spoilers, you should skip ahead to the Living Journal section because the main story is getting quite the twist this season. In fact, the devs admitted that some fans are sure to be upset, and not because the story is bad, mind you, but because of how it unfolds. Whiteside's comment was that "it's going to be another shock to the system," just as demolishing Lion's Arch was.

So here it is: If you are a big fan of the Zephyrites, be prepared for some heartache. Once players dive through the portal, they'll discover that the Zephyrites have been blasted right out of the air, meaning those who came to the aid of Lion's Arch after it was destroyed now need aid themselves. The story arc of Gates of Maguuma is all about finding out what actually happened to the Zephyrites; players will join up with familiar characters introduced in the first season -- Marjory, Kasmeer, Braham, Rox, Taimi, and Scruffy -- to investigate what happened.

As the story progresses, players learn that the Zephyrite leader has gone missing and that the airship was brought down by sabotage. Living story participants will be racing to find the leader before the saboteur does. Don't worry, though; we haven't spoiled everything. Waller assured us that "there are certainly a number of surprises left to be had on your discovery [of the storyline] when you finally track down the saboteur and go from there."

New land, ho!

After traveling to the far western reaches of the Brisban Wastelands and pushing through the tentacle-like vines choking the area, players will enter a portal that takes them to a brand-new zone. Guild Wars players may recognize the name of the new area: Dry Top. However, as Waller noted, "It's been over 250 years since Guild Wars, so a lot has changed."

Some things players will experience in this new iteration is a huge sandstorm that periodically whips up. When the sandstorm is happening, the events, the encounters, and the types of rewards you can get will all change from what is available when there is no storm. One particular event in the new land is a king of the mountain-type event, where players are fighting a mob that consistently tries to chuck them off the mountain.

Additionally, the aspect crystals that the Zephyrites had on their ships are spilled across the new landmass, so players will be able to use the movement skills associated with the crystals. Waller noted that players will have to be wary of the Inquest faction, which sees an opportunity to grab the crystals and exploit the situation and the Zephyrites' misfortune.

Getting more out of the Living journal

Waller also expounded on the benefits of the Living Story Journal announced earlier this month. Not only will players get to go back and do content they missed, but they will get to redo content they've already completed. This becomes very beneficial in two main ways: One, if you want to brush up on or double check an aspect of the story (maybe newer info later makes you want to re-examine what you might have missed in the past!); and two, you can use it for collecting the new elite achievements. Once you complete the story instance, you can go back and do it over and over with a focus on earning these special achievements and their rewards.

How are the elite achievements different? "These achievements are going to be more challenging, more skill-based," Waller explained. "They're achievements that you earn by doing things that require you to show skill or mastery in your character." He gave examples like keeping all NPCs alive throughout the encounter or never falling to the boss. This allows players the opportunity to change their focus in the encounter from one of completion to one of honing tactics or testing new builds. "It adds another layer or dimension to playing the episode's content," he told us.

More rewards

Along with the added area, new mobs, and additional story content, the first episode of Season 2 introduces a bunch of new rewards, such as the new Adventurer's Spectacles and Adventurer's Scarf (which can be combined to create the Adventurer's Mantle). New crafting materials also enter the scene. Players can now harvest cacti for cooking or refine Ambrite into sheets, that can be used in crafting gear with bonuses to Toughness, Healing, and Vitality.

Bill and I met with ArenaNet at E3 to get a first look at Guild Wars 2’s Living Story Season 2 content, and have been keeping our mouths shut about it for a solid month.  It hasn’t been easy, primarily because of the intriguing nature of what we were shown.  Also, we’re chatterboxes.

Season 1 recently wrapped up with a climactic event that saw the destruction and reconstruction of Lion’s Arch, and if you need to get caught up with the story so far, check out this short recap video.  Then, to get primed for Season 2’s “The Gates of Maguuma,” watch this video.  And if you’ve been frustrated that you haven’t been able to participate in some of the previous Season’s events, never fear: ArenaNet is introducing the Story Journal, which allows you to play through Season content at your own pace at any time, provided that you log in at least once during a particular live event’s duration.

ArenaNet’s Associate Game Director Steven Waller and Studio Design Director Chris Whiteside walked us through a tiny bit of the new Season content, which builds and feeds back on Season 1’s story.  In the game, you’ll be alerted of some strangeness in the Brisban Wildlands, and will come across these weird vine things that have been encroaching upon the human territory.  You’ll meet up with a Seraph outpost that is guarding a portal to a new area, and learn that some new threat has taken out a Zephyr ship that was participating in the Festival of the Four Winds.
The new area beyond the portal is called Dry Top, a region referenced in the original Guild Wars.  It’s an open world area similar to the other locales in Guild Wars 2, with soloable story instances that scale with your party size.  There’s a sense of verticality in the way that Dry Top’s map has been designed, and a shifting sandstorm will affect your visibility and act as a type of event that determines different objectives and rewards.  As you progress through the story, you’ll find out that (spoilers) the Zephyr leader is on the run, a saboteur is chasing after him, and you’re the man/woman/asura/charr/sylvari/norn to figure out what’s going on.
Dry Top is comparable in size to Southsun and synergizes the open world with Guild Wars 2’s story, aiming to address some pacing concerns with the previous Season’s content.  Apparently, the ArenaNet team has been working with people in other media industries to understand how to better make superstory arcs, interrelated Seasons, appealing characters, and other features that are common to good storytelling in television, films, and other forms of entertainment.  Additionally, Seasonal achievements will now unlock when you complete an episode rather than being the driving force of how you go about completing Living Story content.  You’ll get rewards upon finishing the episode for the first time, and can then go about tackling the achievements and experiencing the content with a different focus.

I’m a big fan of Guild Wars 2 and the direction that ArenaNet has taken with its Living Story content.  I know there have been some gripes about the lack of replayability and overdependence on achievements in Season 1, and while neither of those things have bothered me a jot, it does seem like the developers are seeking to address them directly with Season 2.  Starting today, you can jump in and see for yourselves - be sure to let us know what you think!

Living World Season 2 starts today in Guild Wars 2 with the Gates of Maguuma content patch!

In the aftermath of the attack on Lion's Arch, players in Guild Wars 2 will be faced with a new evil and a permanently scarred Tyria as Season 2 of the Living World kicks off with the Gates of Maguuma content patch. The first content patch of Season 2 has players aiding the Zephyrites and checking out strange disturbances in the tangled western reaches of the Brisban Wildlands.

In The Fall of the Zephyrites, players will aid the Zephyrites who met with trouble in the air. However, players will first need to find the ship before they are able to help its inhabitants and discover what went wrong.

Players will then meet up with the Biconics team (Marjory, Kasmeer, Braham, Rox and Taimi) in Digging Deeper to investigate a commotion that is somehow connected to the fallen Zephyr Sanctum. "It'll take courage and no small amount of teamwork to get to the bottom of things!"

The commotion has stirred up trouble with more than just the locals. As players venture through Dry Top, they will need to keep an eye out for Inquest devices and operations. The Inquest are prepared to continue at all costs, so players better be prepared for a fight.

Once players complete the storyline for Gates of Maguuma, Elite Achievements will unlock to push players' wits and skills to the limit. "Perform daring feats of valor, strength and sheer guts to prove your worth and unlock rewards!"

But what is new content and challenging achievements without some Rich Rewards? Among the "passel" of new rewards coming with this patch are new crafting materials. Refine Ambrite into sheets to make gear with the new Toughness, Healing Power and Vitality stat combo, or harvest some Cacti to make some delicious new food! Players might also find the new Adventurer's Spectacles and Adventurer's Scarf, which will create the stylish and functional Adventurer's Mantle when combined.

As a reminder, all of this content is permanent content including story that is repeatable once unlocked through the new Story Journal. All players need to do to unlock this story is log into Guild Wars 2 within the next two weeks after the patch goes live later today!

The Hermit and his cave.

Une étrange perturbation trouble l'ouest des Terres Sauvages de Brisban, et c'est à vous d'en découvrir la cause !

À partir du 1er juillet 2014
Une étrange perturbation trouble l’ouest des Terres Sauvages de Brisban, et c’est à vous d’en découvrir la cause ! Joignez-vous aux forces séraphines à Brisban afin d’atteindre le cœur du problème.

Des forces mystérieuses s’élèvent à l’ouest.

La chute des Zéphyrites
Les Zéphyrites ont besoin de votre aide ! Après avoir quitté les festivités des Falaises labyrinthiques, les Zéphyrites ont rencontré quelques problèmes dans les airs. Votre mission : retrouver le vaisseau et ses occupants afin de comprendre ce qui a bien pu se passer.

Les Zéphyrites ont besoin de votre aide !

Au fond des choses
Menez l’enquête aux côtés de Marjory, Kasmeer, Braham, Rox, Taimi et Piteux pour découvrir ce qui provoque cette agitation et quels sont ses liens avec la chute du Sanctuaire du Zéphyr. Le courage et le travail d’équipe seront vos meilleures armes pour faire toute la lumière sur cette affaire !

Combattez aux côtés des Séraphins et des héros de la Tyrie.

La peste soit de l'Enqueste !
Toute cette agitation dans la région de Maguuma a attiré l’attention de la tristement célèbre Enqueste. Ouvrez l’œil lorsque vous traverserez le Col aride, l’Enqueste a des engins et des agents partout. Ils ne reculeront devant rien pour accomplir leurs funestes desseins ; préparez-vous au pire !

À Maguuma, les nombreuses perturbations ont attiré l’attention de l’Enqueste.

Des succès d'élite
Une fois l’histoire « À l’orée de Maguuma » terminée, vous aurez accès à des succès particulièrement ardus qui mettront vos talents et votre matière grise à rude épreuve ! Accomplissez des hauts faits avec force et bravoure afin de prouver votre valeur et remporter des récompenses ! Découvrez les chroniques, la nouvelle fonctionnalité qui va rendre le contenu du Monde vivant permanent !

Remportez des succès ardus en faisant appel à votre intelligence et vos compétences !

Des récompenses généreuses
Cette mise à jour apporte une flopée de nouvelles récompenses, parmi lesquelles de nouveaux matériaux d’artisanat. Raffinez de l’ambrite pour conférer à votre équipement des bonus en Robustesse, Soins, et Vitalité, ou récoltez des cactus pour préparer de succulents nouveaux mets ! Partez à la recherche des lunettes et de l’écharpe d’aventurier, qui peuvent être combinées pour créer la fantastique houppelande d’aventurier !

Qui dit aventure, dit récompense !

Fonds d'écran

Captures d'écran