Iris Ophelia's ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style
April Fools Day is the worst day of the entire year to be on the internet, period. Everyone confuses lies for pranks, and even big media outlets fall for them. I honestly wish most bloggers and journalists could take today off. April Fools Day on the internet is a lie-off, where anyone can say or do anything they want for attention as long as they follow it with a little snigger and a shrug tomorrow. Can you tell I'm not a fan?
Thankfully the folks at ArenaNet, makers of Guild Wars 2, seem to have the right idea about what April Fools should be like in an MMO. They've used it to launch a special event for players for the month of April, styled after Minecraft as well as the 8-bit age of gaming, complete with a fake commercial just as ridiculous as game commercials from the 80s and 90s. Here's what they've done:
"Super Adventure Box" is a very unique group dungeon within Guild Wars 2. When players visit they will be fighting enemies and collecting items as usual, but those enemies, the world they're in, and even their user interface will all have a distinctly retro flavor... Not to mention the 8-bit take on the Guild Wars 2 theme that greets players on the character select screen today. Much like the rest of Guild Wars 2 there's hidden treasure, jumping puzzles, exclusive items, and no doubt an achievement or two to be had. You can check out all the details in the Super Adventure Box FAQ... But the best thing to do is probably experience it for yourself.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go read up about EA's new CEO.
(Hat tip: Gahum Riptide and Damien Fate)
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TweetIris Ophelia (@bleatingheart, Janine Hawkins IRL) has been featured in the New York Times and has spoken about SL-based design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan and with pop culture/fashion maven Johanna Blakley.
Minecraft itself had a similar idea, they added big list of upcoming changes, many of them ridiculous, but also included some long-wanted features in the list... Which would be cruel if it were just a joke - and that itself was the trick.. Turns out they actually implemented it all, ridiculous features and all.
I wish more things would make content instead of just fake news. It's way more fun!
This Guild Wars update takes the cake, though.
Posted by: Adeon Writer | Monday, April 01, 2013 at 01:09 PM