Feedback:Developer updates/20110428

Developer Update — 6th Anniversary Update
Six years, come and gone. It's hard to believe that we're already celebrating another anniversary – where does the time go? The correct answer is "Into an Asuran Chronarium." But even if you didn't guess right, we still have plenty of updates for you. Let's take a look at what's going into our anniversary build.

Birthday Tonics
With every birthday celebration comes presents for the good people of Tyria, and this year is no exception. Players whose characters turn six years old will receive one of our newest collection of Everlasting Tonics. This series consists of over 30 possible tonics, featuring a wide variety of friends, foes, and maybe a few surprises.

Flux
Last Halloween, the Lunatic Court followed through on an ill-conceived plot to free Mad King Thorn from his realm. Seals were broken, bizarre acts were performed, terrible jokes were deciphered, and it seemed at the time that all the fuss had been for nothing.

But since then, instability has begun to seep into the world, gathering in the places where the influence of the Mists is felt most strongly. The instability has resulted in fluctuations – changes that alter the experience of playing in our competitive venues. Fluctuations seem to come and go, bringing new effects with them every month.

The introduction of Flux is a compelling tool to help us keep our competitive formats dynamic, while allowing us to further balance the game. Because slight shifts in the meta are expected from Flux to Flux, it allows us to better target overly problematic builds. If powerful builds can thrive in environments that are not suited to them, we can review the skills to bring them more into line. We want to encourage gameplay where the team that wins does so because they've played more skillfully.

The Flux system is the precursor to several improvements that will be coming in a PvP-specific update. We'll be taking a look at improving some titles, the incentives to play, the rewards for various formats, and more. Look forward to it!

Mutual Friends List Locations
Have you ever wondered where your friends were in the wide world of Guild Wars? With the new-and-improved Friends List, wonder no longer! If you and your friend are mutual friends – each of you has the other on their Friends List – then the game will now display your current locations on each other's Friends List.

Razah
"Fixed a bug that prevented Razah from changing his primary profession." OK, now that we've got that out of our system – a little joke for our longtime fans – let's go over the details: if you have the Hero Razah unlocked, you're now able to switch his primary profession. In order to do so, you'll need to travel to the Heart of Abaddon without Razah in your party, so that you can speak with him in the explorable area. Razah will ask you which profession you would like him to switch to.

Please be aware that changing Razah's profession functions similar to deleting and creating a new Mercenary Hero: equipped items are deleted. Be sure to remove any valuables from Razah before asking him to change. The game will also warn you of this beforehand.

Hard Mode Quests
We're introducing a new type of content with this build: quests that are only available in Hard Mode. To get things started, we've decided to revisit "The Villainy of Galrath," one of the very first quests ever added to Guild Wars. In order to accept the quest, you'll need to have completed the original version of the quest, and then speak with Firstwatch Sergio while in Hard Mode to accept the new version.

Be cautioned: Hard Mode quests are intended to be a difficult challenge to overcome, and we're just getting started with them. Be on the lookout for more of these quests to test your heroism in future updates.

High-Resolution Textures in Town
We've added an option to use high-resolution textures when displaying other players in outposts. This option is located under the Graphics tab of the Options (F11) menu. I can almost see your screenshots now.

Festival Hats and Costume Maker in Pre-Searing
Feeling a little left out of the holidays in Pre-Searing? Wishing you could spruce up your drab attire with a festive accent? Experiencing a moderately perverse desire to wear your Charr Hat around Old Ascalon? You're in luck – two new NPCs are now appearing in Ascalon City. They will allow you to retrieve any festival hats you've previously registered or create any costumes that you currently own.