Dev Corner: Imagining Guild Wars 2

i hear something...

w...o...w...

meh, id like to see a pvp oriented gw graphical game though with wow type rpg moding. well id really like to see the pvp mode of it mainly...

Meh.

However Guild Wars 2 turns out, I'm sure it will be much better than other MMOs out there, so I'm still going to buy it. It's going to be released like 5 years after WoW, so I don't think you can compare any two games from that big a time gap. ArenaNet is taking most if not all player feedback into consideration, so I expect there to be lots of improvement from now, it can only get better from here.
I'm sure they're planning to do much more with the exceeded level cap than just have you grind the whole game...after all, that's not how Guild Wars earned its reputation.
Don't use Eye of the North to predict the future of this game, it was obviously just a last minute project. They even recycled areas from the abandoned fourth campaign, which was meant to be a mesoamerican theme to create some of the regions like the Asuran territory. (Guild Wars Utopia anyone? If you've read the PCgamer magazine, you'd know what I'm talking about)

I'll be sticking to this franchise, thank you. ^^

As far as the philosophy underlying a game is concerned, Anet are the best. Once I've seen their design principles in action, I can't but despair watching other game designers. They apparently think it's GOOD to make simple routine tasks as difficult as possible...

Darn i cant wait i can play this it sound really promising

Not saying there won't be stuff like that, but I'm thinking along other lines. Context-based, to me, means I have a basic attack or spell that produces different effects depending on what I'm doing (or the condition of my target) when I use it. So if I use a basic earth spell on a KD'ed opponent, he gets blinded. Or hit a KD'ed target with a basic Axe attack I get adrenaline and energy (or a power boost to the next attack if there's no adrenaline and energy). If I jump while using a powerful sword attack, it does extra damage but is easily interruptible. If I run at an enemy and slide and cast a water hex, I smash into him and cause Daze, etc. Point being, all the possible effects aren't necessarily documented, so there's a sort of emergent property to gameplay where players go out and discover how the game works, rather than read it on wiki.

They already tried the co-existence of PvE and PvP. While it certainly must have looked good on paper, being innovative and so on, it didn't work in practice. They were original instead of smart.

There has never been any real need to nerf stuff in PvE since PvE balance is not needed in this game. WoW for example is different, because every class needs to be worth bringing to raids in order to get the necessary new gear.

It seems that the best way to "link" PvE and PvP together is to separate them even more. One way to do this could be to have balance updates only affect skills in PvP, i.e. have PvE versions of the same skills which pretty much stay the same. Balance doesn't get ruined and PvE'rs don't have to watch their favourite class getting hit continuosly. A win-win situation.

PvP cannot be balanced by looking at PvE and make updates that affect both, but that's what ANet seems to have done. Mesmers being useless in PvE and Eles not being the "nukers" people suppose them to be? Let's give them Spiritual Pain and Searing Flames and see people run SP spike and SF spam in GvG. They also refused to nerf soul reaping properly. The list goes on and on. An example of the opposite would be the Paragon class. ANet needs to admit that PvE and PvP are too different.

Balancing for both PvE and PvP is pretty simple: have them operate on a different level. Like, fix all PvP at character level X and allow PvE to progress beyond that to character level Y, where of course X < Y.

That would allow them to essentially use the same skills for both, balancing the skills for PvP purposes at level X and allow skill effectiveness to escalate toward level Y to make PvE more exciting, or however you want to call it.

all i wish is more detailed ingame graphic/other features, such as more facial expressions and maybe even unique voice effects o.o possibilities are endless XD

i just hope that GW2 wont be a disapointment like HoM was, sorry but thats my thoughts and feeling after the HoM being introduced, it gave me doubts about what would still be to come.

that's kinda his point no? separate the balance for pvp and pve... i would like this kind of separation as well. else the bickering between the two camps of players will never cease.

what they could do is to have a common base, then have pve-scaling and pvp-scaling done separately.

And how much have i got to pay for a new graphics card to keep up with these graphics :\, it sounds good dont get me wrong, i can't wait . But i don't want to pay a huge amout for a graphics card.

I wouldn't like that. I'd prefer to have the skills to be exactly the same, except higher caps on PvE. Much less of a disconnect that way.

As long as i dont buy GW2 just to find every monster, armor ect... is the exact same (or reskinned) as GW1. lolz That would be a shame to get your first armor and wear the same thing thats in GW1.

I would hope that Anet would take a lesson on most MMO's, that i cant beat the whole game in a couple of sittings. I am personally tired of being able to beat a campaign in a matter or 6-8 hours of hard play. Playing through the same campaign over and over and over again with all my characters gets extremely boring.

Also i would greatly enjoy a rich customization of your character. From hair to face and to the armor you wear. I hate walking around in any town seeing a lot of me. This is a feature that most recent MMO's have tried to skimp out on.

The article is nice, GW2 is still in its early stages. The designers will not add alot of stuff they wish to put in the game due to budgets and time. I would actually like to hear maybe some concreate details of what exactly is in there. As long as i am extremely calm about GW2 and not overly hyped like i was on the dissappointing GWEN, i probaly will enjoy it.

Some skills in GW2 might be broken because of their functionality, not just numbers. That is the case with GW at the moment, some skills never see buffs because they might spawn an overpowered gimmick.

they'll just increase the health of the PVE monsters or up their levels so that in the end, it'll just be a larger number to the same effect.

hm. the more i think about it, the harder it seems to implement. not my job, fortunately.

Just make guild wars 2 the way Guild Wars 1 Was when it was released and i bet 99% of the ppl would be happy..

My thoughts on grind .....

Its only there if you want it
I played through GWEN and finished it with 1 character - took me 3 weeks casual play
I didn't have to grind anything to do it. I didn't do all side quests (but I will) don't have max of anything.

So what if I'm not level 8 on the norn track - I got level 4 without effort - no grinding , no repeatedly rezoning to farm points

So I can't get the armour - big deal , I have the armour I like already from factions.
My PvE skills are not maxed - does this bother me - no
I don't have chaos gloves - but hey if they are that important to you - you know how to get them
(No Pug has yet turned me down for not having chaos gloves)

I finished the story , got some more quests still to do - that was worth my £35 - I can show you plently of games that cost me that and I never pick up again once I finish it.

You cannot expect anet to give 100s of hours of continually fresh gameply for that money.

If you want to stay in the game world - and looks like many do , then you are going to have to repeat some stuff - and hey , you get rewarded for that with access to elite armours etc.

You cannot have both

1) Everybody has everything <-- this isn't really desirable
2) Some things are reserved for those who spend A LOT of time in the game

if you want 2) then a-net can't make it fresh for you - your time in the game will include grind

the number of people who spend A LOT of time in the game is much smaller than those who are casual. If you slew develop for the "A LOT" minority then you are onto a loser - you alienalte the casual majority A Net need to develop for the majority - and the majority do not grind (but they do a good job of having some in there for those who want to do it)

To most ITS JUST A GAME.... HAVE FUN

I want to thank the dev's for posting there thoughts, this was badly needed.

This re-affirms why I love GW and gives me the goals for GW2, how well it's implemented will see, but this is there goals and I do like what there aiming for.

This is the single most important thing to me.

As I have said before, the thing that has turned me off of all other MMO's I've played (WoW, 9Dragons, Dungeon Runner, MapleStory, Ragnarok) is the horrible story. They can all be put into one of 2 general catagories:

1. You are a member of faction x, you are at war with faction y. Go fight!

2. Welcome to the amazing world young adventurer. Go, tell your own story.

Guild Wars is diffrent. It tells a story, a heroic epic. The story of a single hero overcoming all odds to save the world. Your character takes on a roll similar to Jason (of the Argonots) or King Aruthor. The tale is riddled with betrayal, pure evil, and plot twists (yes, like most fantasy, the twists are pretty easy to see coming, but still fun).

If GW2 has this I will continue to care about, and play in, the world of Tyria. If it becomes another typical MMO story...the game will probably be shelved after a month of playing and I will say farwell to Tyria and Anet.

I didn't see anything they wanted to do about PVP in GW2. It makes me very sad.
You know in one of the forums there was a debate about GW Vs WOW and the sarcastic summary why WOW is better was:
"WOW owns because you can JUMP"

Now in GW2 you will also be able to jump. Jump to WoW2, jump to WOR, jumpt to Conan, jump to whatever will be the leading PVP game out there.

ANET, you created the biggest rpg pvp player base ever and introduced a real great game with great value to its palyers call GW. The only way you're going to do it again is to focus on the unique PVE-PVP game play you created.
Dont make a beutifull, free of charge, wow. It wont work.