Guild Wars is generating some buzz after former ArenaNet designer Matthew Moore's tweet regarding an Easter Egg the players have been unaware of for eight years now.
Update: The secret weapon is a Silver Edge. Here's how to get it.
Guild Wars, a 17-year-old MMORPG, has been hiding a secret "weapon" somewhere in its code since 2013. The "maybe" hunt for the elusive weapon is now on thanks to a Guild Wars global Discord user who goes by the nickname Horrible.
On April 12, 2021, Horrible noticed a Wiki edit on the Talk Page of the Wayfarer's Reverie by former ArenaNet Designer Matthew Moore.
Moore was responding to an anonymous comment made on August 25, 2020.
Anonymous' comment
"I heard from somebody who heard from an ex-dev that the Xunlai Archivists are a riddle or something. Some of the references overlap, like there are two maps with Kilroy and vaettir. Not sure about the cupcake."
Matthew Moore's comment
"Well, I was going to create a new note, seeing as I admitted as much on Twitter today, but I'll just confirm this person was onto something. My apologies to the other devs for spoiling the secret (if we were still keeping it a secret), to the community for my part in hiding it without leaving more hints and confirmations, and especially to our QA for making 'em test something nobody would find for years. If you all get stuck looking for it and you need more hints, ask Joe Kimmes. Ha!"
"There's a weapon hidden in the original Guild Wars that I don't think anyone's found yet. We hid some clues in the dialogues of some wiki editor tribute NPCs who only show up during the Wayfarer's Reverie, but...I think we hid it too well. Too poorly? Could have done it betta." Moore wrote on April 11, 2021.
The NPCs Moore is talking about are the eight Xunlai Archivists, introduced in 2013 and named after Guild Wiki users.
- Xunlai Archivist Argentum
- Xunlai Archivist Auren
- Xunlai Archivist Jonemon
- Xunlai Archivist Plyng
- Xunlai Archivist Rylek
- Xunlai Archivist Sheftenalis
- Xunlai Archivist Tannatrus
- Xunlai Archivist Tannusay
According to the anonymous poster, getting the mysterious weapon could involve Kilroy, Vaettir and some cupcakes.
Today, April 13, 2021, Matthew Moore confirmed that the weapon is not an RNG drop, saying:
"Oh my Dwayna, no, this is not a Mini Polar Bear situation. Meeting the conditions should produce a 100% success rate of triggering...the thing. (...with only this caveat.)"
The caveat
"Also, after talking with Joe and Zack Nickerson (Live Team QA), I thought it would be helpful to put a point in writing: "This was intended as an Easter egg", which means we didn't test it as rigorously as core content (or even outside our staging environment), "and it was never intended to be core content". It's eight-years-old, unmonitored, unmaintained content. Will it work? "Probably." But even if you can cobble together the proper steps to perform this magic trick, it also may not. So if it doesn't, please don't go asking Stephen Clarke-Willson to put it on the low-hanging fruit list for a fix. I'm rooting for you, and if you unearth this long-hidden treasure, it'll be a delight to you "and me'', but please keep it in perspective. Thanks and good hunting!"
Guild Wars screenshots from various campaigns with new graphics
- Image: 1 / 8
Some good news
Matthew Moore recently wrote on the Reverie talk page and revealed the following:
"I just spoke with Joe Kimmes (to apologize in advance for sending him a bunch of eager info requests), and he said he is pretty darn sure that this can be acquired outside of the Wayfarer's Reverie. So you can safely continue the testing of other conditions."
Guild Wiki user Alexis Toran proposed the following theory:
"It sounds as though we're looking for Xunlai Archivist Argentum's sword (the Silver Edge perhaps?) as mentioned by Xunlai Archivist Rylek. Reading it again as I write this, it sounds like a reference to Drakkar Lake. Perhaps it's worth getting Kilroy to spawn there and following him while keeping an eye out for anything he charges by, like Xunlai Archivist Auren|Auren says. Light of Deldrimor might also come into it, Xunlai Archivist Sheftenalis mentions shining a light on antiquity.
Matthew Moore has since graciously joined the subreddit as /u/Ironmaus and added this helpful tidbit:
"We added the item and the trigger mechanism at the same time as we added the NPCs in 2013. No need to dig back too far. Heck, I don't know how many people outside the Live Team at that point knew about it. [Can't give everything away (in part because I don't remember it all), but I don't want to see y'all beating your heads against 16 years of content.]"
The hunt for the mysterious weapon is now on, and it's only a matter of time before someone finds Guild Wars' best-kept secret.
Thank you, u/bsoltan .
