Gamespots Nightfall Preview (Leipzeig Impressions, not the other one)

Shoitaan

Shoitaan

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Mar 2006

Australia

Tuskforce Supremacy [Tusk]

Me/N

http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/guildw...pdates;title;0
- Enjoy

*Link fixed, thanks Mrcake - copied the text from my post on GWO.. didn't notice the chopped URL.. whoops XD*

Quote:
These include traps, and we saw both crushing pillars and sideways spurts of flame, which meant that timing of movement was essential. There will also be various riddles to solve throughout the game, particularly in the 20 main story quests (although there will be plenty of other side missions to complete as well). One example of this new puzzle content involved four stone tablets that needed to be placed on four different pedestals. Each tablet could be recovered by killing certain ghosts within the temple, but given that you can carry only one tablet at a time, any tablet placed on a pedestal for any length of time would be stolen away by a respawning ghost. Therefore, you'll need to think of a way around that particular situation before you can proceed.

It seems Anet took a lesson in dungeon design from DDO, I'm glad

Also.. 20 main story missions... I sense a sea of vocal outrage from the Prophecies fanbois...


Thats NOT the only good tidbit from the article.. seriously.. read it and drool

mrcake

mrcake

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Mar 2006

W/N

link fixed

http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/guildw...pdates;title;0

Thallandor

Thallandor

Desert Nomad

Join Date: May 2005

Singapore

Seers of Serpents [SoS]

R/

Sound promising and rather interesting, hopefully it will play as well as it is read.

Ninna

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2005

Northeast USA

Guilded Rose

Me/

Quote:
any tablet placed on a pedestal for any length of time would be stolen away by a respawning ghost
reminiscent of the Prophecies mission for Aurora Glade
- where the party competed for attuning crystals


sounds like the new NPC heroes can go *anywhere* - even the hardest content
Quote:
The story missions will each take between 40 minutes and a couple of hours to complete in theory and will pose a challenge to both beginners and veterans of the game.
...
the top-end dungeons can now be attempted by just two players, each with a main character and three heroes, totalling up to the maximum of eight characters.

-Loki-

-Loki-

Forge Runner

Join Date: Oct 2005

The hero controls sound like an ingenious way to make AI controls Nightfall only. They can easily say that although henchmen controls were one of the game wide promised features, these are hero controls. And we should wait patiently for henchmen controls.

Ninna

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2005

Northeast USA

Guilded Rose

Me/

I doubt henchman will be given more control - but never know

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3150457
Quote:
JS: [Laughs] When we first introduced henchman A.I. we actually had to dumb it down in terms of their tactical thinking, because they were so good at what they did that if you brought a henchman healer into your party, you'd never play with a human player again as long as you lived. They were able to just make split decisions about what is the absolute optimal way in which I can deal with this. So we had to tune down the henchman a little bit.

penguo

penguo

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Mar 2006

Abaddons Bane

N/

YES! those puzzle type things will be interesting. I bet the missions might last a bit longer for some groups though if you have to find out how to do it.

GloryFox

GloryFox

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jan 2006

Good ol' USA, where everyone else wants to be

Now Plays World of Warcraft on Whisperwind

This is interesting about the Maximum number of HERO's up to 3 total. I guess this means you will have both HERO's and Henchmen. I can't see ANET dismissing the player who does not play with other people on the PvE side of things.

Bane of Worlds

Bane of Worlds

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Mar 2006

Meadow

Rt/

sweet, definately going to love this

Mordakai

Mordakai

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: Aug 2005

Kyhlo

W/

My gut reaction to "puzzles" is negative. I've never liked puzzle solving in my action games... if I wanted puzzles, I'd play Myst. The worst part of Prophecy were those stupid teleporter gates in the desert.

But thinking about it, missions and quests desperately need something new to change them up. And, if implemented well, this could be just the thing.

/keeping fingers crossed

Paperfly

Paperfly

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jun 2006

Quote:
What's even more interesting is that your initial choice of hero will inform your following choices so that some potential companions may become available--or unavailable--depending on who's already in the team. This should add a degree of replayability to the game as well.
...Presumably if we 'fire' our initial hero we'll then be able to go back and retread? It's unlike a Guild Wars game to provide us with choices we can't reverse.

Tetris L

Tetris L

Jungle Guide

Join Date: May 2005

Germany

Servants of Fortuna

Quote:
Originally Posted by GloryFox
I guess this means you will have both HERO's and Henchmen. I can't see ANET dismissing the player who does not play with other people on the PvE side of things.
During the Nightfall preview at GC there were still "normal" henchmen. So they haven't been totally replaced by heroes.

SpeedyKQ

SpeedyKQ

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Dec 2005

E/Me

If each mission runs 40 minutes to 2 hours, and there are 20 of them, the main storyline will be longer than Prophecies and about 3 times longer than Factions. Nice.

Moiax

Moiax

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jul 2006

Pink Animal Clan

E/

Should we assume that there will probably be content related completion awards for missions?(ex: bonuses not masters times)

Mordakai

Mordakai

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: Aug 2005

Kyhlo

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Moiax
Should we assume that there will probably be content related completion awards for missions?(ex: bonuses not masters times)
We shouldn't assume anything.

But that would be a good guess.

Moiax

Moiax

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jul 2006

Pink Animal Clan

E/

Right after I posted that, I realized what I had said was not exactly what I should of said. Perhaps "This could lead us to speculate that there may be objective based goals, as opposed to time based ones, due to the amount of time that is allegedly needed to complete the missions." would of been better.

Archon Calran

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: May 2006

N/Me

I saw this preview too this is what caught my attention....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gamespot
The tutorial level culminated in a boss fight with a particularly nasty-looking creature. Here again, new ideas have been added to give existing Guild Wars players a new challenge. In this case, the boss itself changes form throughout the fight. Each time the boss changes, it alters not only its appearance, but also its profession, meaning that standard profession tactics won't work for very long. In this way, ArenaNet hope to force players, and groups of players, to think more tactically, thus providing a more interesting and varied challenge.
:O

TiNkLeR

TiNkLeR

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jun 2006

Portugal

Nice

MerLock

Academy Page

Join Date: Jun 2005

PUG and puzzles? Sounds like this is going to be fun.

But i do enjoy the twist in gameplay. Brings something new to the game.

Quid Pro Quo

Quid Pro Quo

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jul 2005

For puzzles they will have to give us more control over henchmen.

Shadowfrost

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Apr 2006

Planet Earth (sometimes)

Nowhere To Run, Nowhere To [Hide]

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by SpeedyKQ
If each mission runs 40 minutes to 2 hours, and there are 20 of them, the main storyline will be longer than Prophecies and about 3 times longer than Factions. Nice.
*sigh* I know this sounds sad, but I got Factions when it came out, and I only just finished it for the first time last week. Three times longer than factions? Guess it's never gonna happen Maybe...

Exoudeous

Exoudeous

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Mar 2006

Honor Warriors

E/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shadowfrost
*sigh* I know this sounds sad, but I got Factions when it came out, and I only just finished it for the first time last week. Three times longer than factions? Guess it's never gonna happen Maybe...
depends on how much you play and what groups you find. I had factiosn doen with my main character within 2 days, I still remember being in the last areas and waiting for enough people to make it to form a group

curtman

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jun 2006

Sounds fun! Hopefully they took away the annoying factions pop boxes. Hopefully the hero Healer will be more competent than the standard NPC one. The hero thing is very interesting. I wonder if they will uses skills and weapon upgrades unlocked on your account...

Despite the length, I hope leveling to 20 is fast like factions. I am hoping for 75% of the campaign to be played at lvl 20.

Only time will tell...

The truth itself

The truth itself

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Dec 2005

Denmark

First Degree

Mo/

I hope that, they choose to make a newbie area, where you can run around in levels under 20, and the rest of the game should be 20.

Also an option to skip the newvbie areas, like factions, just the entire newbie island skipped.

Vermilion

Vermilion

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Mar 2006

NY

The increased length of the PvE storyline makes me kinda hope there isn't endgame armor. I didn't mind the whole system in Factions, but that was 13 missions..all of which could be done in <30 minutes. I don't think I'll be able to do that 4 times in nightfall.

Also...how do you cap skills from that profession-changing boss? I see this being a recurring thing, so will it just have all elites that it used or just the one it had when it died..

Mordakai

Mordakai

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: Aug 2005

Kyhlo

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vermilion
The increased length of the PvE storyline makes me kinda hope there isn't endgame armor. I didn't mind the whole system in Factions, but that was 13 missions..all of which could be done in <30 minutes. I don't think I'll be able to do that 4 times in nightfall.
Well, that's what endgame armor is for. A reward to go through all the missions... it's not much of a reward (IMO), if it's too easy to get.

Max armor is available in the beginning of Factions, so it's not like you're at any disadvantage.

Besides, it takes time to save up 75k anyway!