Wintersday has arrived

Wintersday has arrived and while it may have the longest nights (or days) of the year. Everyone likes an excuse to party and Wintersday is no exception. With toys, games, food and drinks this Wintersday will be a blast. Join in the festivities for some snowball fights, or try your skills at the Winter Wonderland jumping puzzle, or if you're feeling a little musical, then join the Bell Choir and ring those bells. These just so much to do and gifts too.

Tixx has also arrived in his giant flying wondrous workshop and has made his first stop at the Grove bringing toys for all but needs a little help in the Infinirarium as Skritt have been messing about. If you help out in the Infinirarium you'll get your own toy, some assembly required.

So join us this Wintersday and blast the nights away.

Baldness Pandemic In Tyria

Tyria officials announced that a baldness bug has been hitting people indiscriminately. It is not known if it is the prolonged use of hats and or helms, but reports have been coming in that it is not only limited to males. Females have also been losing their hair proving this isn't some new kind of male patterned baldness and has caused people to start panicking about their looks.

We interview a merchant about this matter who said “Sales have gone through the roof, I've never sold so many wigs and hair tonics like this before”. Every merchant we talked to assured us that merchants all over Tyria have supplies of wigs in all sizes, and varieties are well stocked. Also merchants have increased supplies of Self-Style Hair Kits and that a new tonic to fight this onset of baldness is available all across Tyria.

Durmand Priory officials have also assured us that research into this new plague of baldness is being investigated and will post their findings on their Owlfeed. The Priory has also advised that people using hats and or helms for long periods should take care to clean them often and to not use them indoors if possible.

Wintersday is coming

The festivities of Wintersday have been a long tradition in Tyria and despite the threat of the elder dragons Wintersday will continue. Tyrian officials have said that they wish to give people a break from the hardships the elder dragons have pushed onto their lives and have commissioned the Asuran toymaker Tixx. “Before Tixx arrives in Lion's Arch in his massive airship toy workshop, he'll visit every major city in Tyria to deliver Wintersday toys and holiday cheer” said the Tyrian officials and this has help build excitement and anticipation as Wintersday draws near as more and more have being asking, "What would you like for Wintersday?".

"I want a quaggan plushie" said one youngster who loves the cuteness of the quaggans. Others have asked for toy golems, Edge of Destiny figures, Elder dragon figures, candy, new cloths and many other many things. So with many making lists of things they would like and others preparing decorations and parties we will ask you, what would you like for Wintersday?

On a side note we can't forget about those doing it tough just as this youngster who said this "My friends have been having a tough time because of those big nasty dragons and those four legged guys so I'm giving my toys to them". So with all the gifts you receive this Wintersday, please don't forget to give something back.

Unexpected new wine sensation

Centaurs are plaguing the lands of Kryta, and some have felt this more than others, such as the Winemaker Victoria. Victoria's story is sad like many others but as had a very surprising ending.

Victoria owns a vineyard just outside of the Shire of Beetletun in Queensdale, and had expected a fine crop, which was until Tamini Centaurs started attacking local farms. Sadly the Centaurs with no love of human wine left only ruined grapes and vines in Victoria's vineyard. Victoria pleaded with the Lord of Beetletun Minister Caudecus to help her rebuild her vineyard, but with increased attacks from the Tamini Centaurs, the town couldn't spare anyone to guard Victoria's vineyard. Intent on revenge, Victoria recruited some adventures to help harvest the ruined grapes, in order to make a very sour wine.

With revenge in mind, and the wine was completed, Victoria sent a sample to Minister Caudecus, who as it turns out was delightfully surprised by the aroma of the wine's bouquet and finish taste from the wine, and declared it the best in all of Kryta. Now, it is not known if the Centaurs had trampled a sugarcane field before destroying her wine yard, and with the hoof trampled sugar and grapes somehow mixing to create this fine wine. But it is known that Victoria is selling bottles of her wine, and can be found just outside of Beetletun.

So stop by and have a taste for yourself.

Crab BBQ At Southcove

Citizens of Lion's Arch feel safe again after news of the Lion guard's triumph at Southcove. “We didn't know if we should leave or stay after the lighthouse was destroyed by that giant crab monster. It's bad enough having that pumpkin guy smashing the fountain, but giant crabs? What's next, killer seagulls?” said one local, another was quoted saying “I've got enough crab meat to last a life time :D” followed by another saying “You'll get sick of that much crab meat”. Thou while the locals wouldn't mind this to be an annual event the Lion guard assures that its efforts have stopped any further assaults by the Karka and that it couldn't have happened without the help of passing adventurers.

One local asked “But what about the whales?” with the Durmand Priory responding by saying that with the Ancient Karka defeated the whales are safe again. And with the threat by the Karka minimized the Lion Guard is now advertising Southcove as a new getaway where travelers can swim, jump, play and fight.

So come and enjoy crab meat, warm waters and the sunny shores of Southcove.

Vote For Guild Wars 2 In VGA

Guild Wars 2 has been nominated for Best PC Game and Best Multiplayer Game. Tune in to Spike TV on Friday, December 7 at 9:00 PM ET / 6:00 PM PT for the results.

Go vote for Guild Wars 2!

Heat On Ascended Gear

There has been a lot of talk and speculation with "Ascended" gear to be introduced with this month's major content release, the Lost Shores. I've been waiting to do a good review and bad review to share my thoughts on Guild Wars 2 as a whole, but with these dramatic (dynamic even!) changes, I've felt its hard to see the whole picture.

As with some of my past editorials going on touchy subjects, I always like to remind people to just wait and see what happens. Naturally when something this exciting happens we cannot help but speculate - so I don't blame you either. Much of the latest controversy has been stirred up by the Linsey Murdock's unveil of Ascended Gear posted earlier today. Is the standard we know now is going to be raised? If so some people don't like that. A lot actually, enough to break this thread.

Very briefly (and vaguely) then, we mentioned in the last news post that ascended gear and the condition Agony would be introduced in Guild Wars 2. These two things existed in the original Guild Wars, but the problem is they are actually significantly stronger in stats than exotic armor. Is ArenaNet adding more to the category of "best in slot" items? I don't think so.

Contine reading...

More On Lost Shores

The official Lost Shores page has been updated with some tasty information, including a new trailer for the area.

Look forward to streams here covering the event. I've updated our schedule in case you need to figure out what is happening when on your timezone.

Apart from Lost Shores is many new additions not mentioned before. If you haven't been keeping up with all the details, this wiki page should cover everything that has been discovered leading up to this point.

New Dungeon: Fractals of the Mists

Many have likely completed their dungeon runs for the current Monthly Achievement, but if you haven't this is sure to be a breath of freshness.

New Beta PvP Map: Temple of the Silent Storm

This new map promises to be more vertically oriented than existing PvP maps. Does that remind of something from last month?

New Lost Shores Items from the Black Lion Trading Company

Similar to Halloween in Guild Wars 2, more items will be appearing in the gem shop. Start saving up those gems if you want them! Unique minis and brand-new weapon skins made just for the Lost Shores weekend event are just some of the items mentioned.

New Ascended Gear & Infusions

We're really excited for this. Who wouldn't be for more shiny stuff? Our hope is that these new upgrades will be reasonable attainable cause this sample sure looks cool! [Image]

Official promotion page.

Humpback Whales Returned to Sea

Rescue crews and volunteers cheer as the last of the beached humpback whales at Lions Arch were returned to sea. It marks a happy end to the tireless efforts that started since the humpback whales were first found in LA. Volunteers had worked around the clock to care for the humpback whales, with coordinated teams monitoring the whales, covering them with moist towels, working to pour water and feeding the helpless giants.

“It's not right to see such great animals like this” said one volunteer as concerns about the whales' health was the top priority as time passed, but not one volunteer was willing to leave or give up and with the unified efforts of all five races the whales were once again swimming in the sea.

While the Durmand Priory still investigating as to why the whales beached themselves in the first place, residents and other volunteers are just happy knowing that the whales are back in the sea and doing well.

Refer A Friend Free Trial

If you have any friends who still haven't jumped on to the Guild Wars 2 bandwagon, then this is great news for those willing to try out. ArenaNet will be introducing a referral system for a limited time along with the introduction to the Lost Shores. On November 12th, you'll be able to invite up to 3 other friends to come play Guild Wars 2 with you from November 15 to 18.

Just one condition applies though. Your Guild Wars 2 account must have been created before 23:59 PST (7:59 GMT) on November 6 in order to invite friends. For us die-hard fans, no problem! Let's help spread the love!

Read the original post here.

Martin Kerstein

Martin Kerstein posted a heads up on the Guild Wars 2 forums regarding the upcoming content for November. There are no spoilers ahead, but if you don't want to miss a moment of Guild Wars 2 history in the making, be sure to make room for the scheduled times. The following is taken from that post.

• On Friday November 16th at noon PST (20:00 GMT) the weekend will kick off with an Event in Lion's Arch that you don't want to miss. This will trigger events in other parts of Tyria as well.
• On Saturday November 17th at noon PST (20:00 GMT), another phase will kick in.Each phase is triggered by a special event, but you will be able to enjoy additional content afterwards even if you cannot make the kick-off time.


• There is one exception:The event will culminate in a big Finale on Sunday November 18, make sure you will not miss it. This will be a onetime only event chain that will run multiple hours, and it will kick off at noon PST (20:00 GMT).

There will be plenty of content available to enjoy that will remain permanently in the world as a result of the outcome of this event on Sunday.

Read the original post here.