The Good and the Bad of Guildwars and the hopes for GW2

Guildwars has been out there for more than 2 years, with 3 chapters and 1 expansion.

Guildwars seemed to be a PvP oriented game with an introdutory PvE content, but since then it has changed considerably.
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1) One of the good things of Guildwars is that unlike many other MMORPG, you can actually play a variety of characters with very different playstyles, without losing anything in the competitive side. Its just great to be playing a frontline character and then just shifting to a monk and having completly different roles.

The bad of it, is that Guildwars has 3 campgains with loads of un-interesting quests or missions, or at least boring and annoying once you completed the same 3 campgains with a few characters. Then leveling up and acquiring the elite skills and the locations of the true high-end stuff is completly boring.

In short, while its amazing to be able to field 10 different professions, is ridiculously annoying to have to complete 3 different chapters, wich are mostly low to mid-level difficulty.

Hope for GW2: Being able to field lots of different playstyles, but actually being able to employ them in really hard areas, where you need teamwork, isntead of just dull missions, that you can complete with your party of henchmans. Theres few feelings that can compare to being able to field a team of guildies and just mop FoW, DoA or any of the new dungeons.

2) Heroes- Some people complain about heroes, saying that they kill player interaction and that its impossible to find parties. There is some true in that.

On the other hand, being able to play solo, either because you like or because noone of you friends are online is great. Being able to avoid people that dont have a clue to what they are doing and still dont follow is great. Ofcourse sometime you will just miss that guy/girl thats a good player and person.

Additionaly, being able to finish the game with just a friend and both our heroes is amazing.

In short heroes have pros and cons, but in my opinion, the pros really outweight the cons. Hope I will still have the choice to play solo or with 1/2 friends in GW2.

3)PvE vs PvP- Apperently theres some kind of edge between PvP and PvE players, and I cant say that I dont get annoyed when something thats ok in PvE gets changed because of PvP (mostly GvG and HoH). But I m also a PvP player, not a serious one, but I know that from time to time I like to go and face some human opposition.

Hopefully in GW2, PvP is kept, but the skills used in PvE and PvP will be split.

4) Grinding- A very nice thing about GW is that no Grinding or very few was necessary. But that seems to be changing.

Sure, players need stuff to do, to stay interested and have long term goals, but I think that should be done differently.

Make high-end PvE content challanging and more rewarding. Make titles and stuff, that can be get by exclusive play of High-End content, and not by going and kill that same poor mob over and over again (and I'm a farmer )

Chests in High-End areas was the perfect move. Just make those areas tough enoug and rewarding enough, that doesnt get boring doing them over and over. But an eye needs to be kept for those that dont have an established guild.

Hope for GW2- More areas like Urgoz, Dungeons and such, and not "I NEED TO KILL MORE 10000000000 enemies so I get lvl 99 or get that title that will make me pwn!"

5) Items- I like that what makes high-end armor and weapons differents are the look and not the stats. On the other hand I dislike that those supposed "rare" (all that show in gold letters, not that rare skin) items in the game, are mostly crap with +17% damage while under 50% health ("DONT HEAL ME STUPID MONK, I WANT TO DO MORE DAMAGE", right nice idea) and not true good weapons. I would rather make them scarcier but all good and not "YAAY, another gold item for the merchant "

I hope GW2 keeps a similar item structure, and dont goes into a Diablo 2 fest (although killing Mephisto 100 times per day was fun )

6) Script or not Script- Being a private world once you are outside, means that it looks less of an open world, but it makes you avoid annoying things like higher lvl players predating lower lvls, or the need to wait for something to respawn. Also missions and quests can be more interesting.

It depends on how it will be implemented.

7) Chat system and guild/alliance identification- Ok this thing is attrocious. And please, please make possible to have a master name, lets call it, so you are always named the same, even if your characters have different names.

Also not being able to see alliance rooster is just damn annoying.

Lets not talk about trading chat.

Chat system really needs some work,

8) To conclude, I like the way GW is about options and not about tireless and mindless grinding. Sure some type of grinding with some decent rewards, like the treasure hunter or the wisdom titles, for example, are fine, but making them mandatory doesnt saound good.

For Guildwars 2 I want still be able to have different options, but more High-End stuff and less "newb islands" and lots of uninteresting and easy missions and quests.

Interesting points. I would love to see true skill balancing happen now that all of the skills are out (all games + expansion). I would also actually hope for LESS grinding than there already is.

1) Well this point really has to do with level design and overall class design synergizing and balance.

2) IIRC, Heroes will be back in GW2, but limited to 1? Something like a sidekick character. As it stands, heroes are integral to the storyline and we kinda get thrown to the side. I dont like that too much.

3) I dont like splitting of skills. I think merging is better for having a unified design. The whole PvE VS PvP nonesense stems from players who dont understand or dislike one side or another. This is a human flaw, not a game flaw.
4) There is no grind in GW.
http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...6&postcount=17

5) Item quality does need to match the rarity of the item, but it would require a change in the drop system altogether.

6) not sure what you mean

7) Theres already a master name you can set for PvP, but i think its a GOOD GOOD idea to have this for Alliance/Guild Chat.

Thats whats most important to me. Player interaction with other players.

I hope in GW2 they stop trying to nerf farming.

I used to get golds all the time farming Corsairs and Luxon Assassins and now I'm lucky to get a few crafting materials.

1) Something that would be of great benefit, and increase the difficulty for the GW staff 10,000 fold, would be systematically making quests that only certain primaries can access. This does not mean they all have to be solo, or even the same class only. But that the party leader must be of the class in question. Further, preplan for class expansions so that when new games/expansions come out then there will be quests waiting for them in the previous ones. If for instance you plan on 10 classes, then at least leave some buildings, areas, spots open for adding content (npc trainers, quest givers, etc.) for future classes. Then when the game updates, merely add the new content to all merchants, etc. (like insignias appearing in Rune Trader lists as soon as Nightfall went on-line). Even if you don't know what the classes of the next two games are going to be, you can still leave places for the resources to just be added.

2) I have always felt that some amount of scaling to each party formation should occur to allow persons to play solo. I also enjoy the hero and henchman statements - especially at the moments of extreme irony to the situation. (I swear I once saw Sister Tai yelling to some fleeing Naga, "Come back so I can protect you" or something like that.) What kills player with player play is the perverse joy some players have in messing up their parties. I recently left a group of lower levels I would have taken all the way to the Crystal Desert because one felt it was funny to blow me up in the catapult zones. After two completely unnecessary deaths I left, and normally I will stay and fight to the end even if everyone else (RA, Ft. Aspenwood, etc.) has given up or left.

3) If the environment of PvE has appropriately developed monsters,then the skills for PvP and PvE do not have to be split. The difficulty is that tactics are completely different when playing chess against the machine and when playing against a real player. As the AI technology is improved the split will become less and less needed - and the level of AI oppenents can become more and more that of the players. Currently the lack of AI entrepreurial ability/creativity is why we have mosters that are 133% our level called a challenge. When the AI is perfect, we will only dread facing 1 monster our own level as a challenge. We just are not there yet.

4) I detest the grind, and yes GW has grind. Those who want to say it is all optional, and you realy don't need anythng for the HoM, completely miss the nature of FRP and self expression. Playing the game thru should be sufficient to get me all the skills for my class/occupation without grind. Other things for "grind" include meeting sellers expectations that everyone has a spare 300 k to waste. That is one reason I quit bothering to even try to trade about a year ago, and have only bought about 3 items since then. The trade system is one of the greatest presures causing grind. Another is the current Guild system, and it's Guild Halls. Also, there is the "Elite" armor and weapons thing. I would, if I was in charge, change much of that:

• Everytime you complete a quest or mission for the first time or earn something like Balthazar Faction points then get one token/point that can be used to purchase a skill of choice from a trainer. Continue to have the improved/elite skills captured. Cease the double standard of a character PvPing for a skill and then still having to buy it.
• Make all skins drop evenly/be available, and tie their stats to wielder level in the same way armor is tied to hero level. That way - no matter what you get or use, you won't have to throw away what you like for something you don't like because you need the stats.
• Make all weapons, off-hands, and armor modifiable - again with the stats of the mod scaling to the level of the character or occasionally the account.
• Set all "Guilds" up at the start of the game, about 25 to 50 of them, each with a different badge that would appear on a players cloak while in a competitive match. Allow players to form Chapters within these guilds and be able to move in and out of them as they can current guilds. Allow every player to have a customizable Coat of Arms that would appear on their cloak and shield, if as desired, when not in a comptetive match.

5) I also detest the current system of drops by color. And while it is silly, I don't care for purple items largely because I don't like reading the purple. I also do not like the light-up-your-entire-house green. I have even toned down the green on my monitor just for playing because it is too bright. But what mostly annoys me with the current drops is that, asside from a few skins, you can't tell which game they come from. Since, HoM only takes Gwen weapons, I have no reason to be interested in anything else now. Even skins and items I once thought would be nice to someday have, are useless to me as they must either fill up my back-pack along with the skins I don't care for but must have in order to do HoM or I guess I could load something into HoM and throw it away to see if I get to keep both the item I want and get the credit for GW 2. (But then there is that grind element again - this time to get something you don't really want. But hay, GW 2 is just optional, who intends to play it anyway.)

6) I prefer the instancing, and do not consider thieves that attack lower level players for their items to be merely "annoying."

7) The IM and I have been enemies for 2 years now. If I could afford it I would have Ventrilo again so I could talk to my fellow players and guildies. Can't afford it and I am too often getting stuck in the IM trying to use skills and typing 2223244466666666 in the name space or message section. A lot of times this is when I am abushed while getting a chat, or when I want a different channel and it automatically insists on placing the cursor in the chat window just because you clicked on the tab you want available (like team or guild) when you finished a whisper.

However, there are things I like about GW:

• The way I can use my mouse for gaming.
• Presentation at opening screen.
• Options between PvE and PvP play.
• Presentation of characters for selection.
• Presentation of Character Creation (sixe, hair style/color, face, etc.)
• Options for personal expression via coat of arms, color of armor, style of armor, etc.
• Options to customize my own weapons, off-hand items, and armor.
• Equalization using the max level.
• Ability to open skills in several ways: Training, Balthazar Faction, Faction, Reputation.
• Graphics of Terrain/Great Visuals.
• Ever improving quality of Plot, Theme, and Dramatic Writing.
• Mild representation of various real cultures.
• Expansive areas for exploration.
• Fairly decent pack of emotes.
• The glowing hands, etc. with emotes.
• No monthly fee.
• The effort to remain connected to the clients.
• The ability to play alone when none of my friends are playing.
• Funny quips from NPCs – often hilarious according to circumstance. *
• Playing with neighbors and friends.
• The realistic style of art (less cartoon quality).
• Watching many of the mini-pets.
• Instancing.
• Easy up-dates.

* Once after resurrecting Koss he danced on the yet dead Dunkoro while saying: “Have no fear, I will save you.”

Please don't make it sound like a WoW2 no hard grind.

Screw GW2 - I'd like to enjoy GW and have it's bugs fixed still. ... but of course the mighty dollar must reign so we can't have too much quality gaming instead we must settle for constantly "new" yet unfinished quality gaming............

Nice dreaming.