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

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Frost Gate Guardian

Tuskforce Supremacy [Tusk]

Me/N

Joined Mar 2006

Aug 30, 2006 at 10:04 AM • #1

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

Krytan Explorer

W/N

Joined Mar 2006

Aug 30, 2006 at 10:16 AM • #2

link fixed

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

Thallandor

Desert Nomad

Seers of Serpents [SoS]

Joined May 2005

Aug 30, 2006 at 10:35 AM • #3

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

Ninna

Desert Nomad

Guilded Rose

Me/

Joined Apr 2005

Aug 30, 2006 at 11:04 AM • #4

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-

Forge Runner

Joined Oct 2005

Aug 30, 2006 at 11:24 AM • #5

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

Guilded Rose

Me/

Joined Apr 2005

Aug 30, 2006 at 11:32 AM • #6

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

Lion's Arch Merchant

Abaddons Bane

Joined Mar 2006

Aug 30, 2006 at 11:33 AM • #7

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

Desert Nomad

Now Plays World of Warcraft on Whisperwind

Joined Jan 2006

Aug 30, 2006 at 12:09 PM • #8

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

Wilds Pathfinder

Rt/

Joined Mar 2006

Aug 30, 2006 at 12:22 PM • #9

sweet, definately going to love this

Mordakai

Grotto Attendant

Joined Aug 2005

Aug 30, 2006 at 1:21 PM • #10

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

Krytan Explorer

Joined Jun 2006

Aug 30, 2006 at 1:37 PM • #11

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

Jungle Guide

Servants of Fortuna

Joined May 2005

Aug 30, 2006 at 1:38 PM • #12

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

Krytan Explorer

E/Me

Joined Dec 2005

Aug 30, 2006 at 1:41 PM • #13

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

Frost Gate Guardian

Pink Animal Clan

Joined Jul 2006

Aug 30, 2006 at 3:57 PM • #14

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

Mordakai

Grotto Attendant

Joined Aug 2005

Aug 30, 2006 at 5:15 PM • #15

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

Frost Gate Guardian

Pink Animal Clan

Joined Jul 2006

Aug 30, 2006 at 5:31 PM • #16

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

N/Me

Joined May 2006

Aug 30, 2006 at 5:36 PM • #17

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.