We are beta-testing GW2
KANE OG
"If I am a low level player, still, me going out there helps my team. And in fact, they can invite me and let me act as a higher level player."
Does this statement by O'Brian sound familiar to any of you.... like, maybe this 10 day (lvl up newbies so they can play too thing)?
Plus, I'd like to hear a few opinions on the new comments from the creators of GW2 from all of you.
KANE
Edit to add the link: http://www.gamersglobal.com/special/...anets-founders
Does this statement by O'Brian sound familiar to any of you.... like, maybe this 10 day (lvl up newbies so they can play too thing)?
Plus, I'd like to hear a few opinions on the new comments from the creators of GW2 from all of you.
KANE
Edit to add the link: http://www.gamersglobal.com/special/...anets-founders
Coridan
i thought the same thing when i read about the update and the buff to lvl 20 stats....sounds like some unofficial GW2 beta testing to me
TaCktiX
This has been brought up even earlier in another topic a couple weeks ago. I think it IS a pilot for the later GW2 idea, but I doubt this is final form (I hope not, uber-buffing <> making them equal).
sykoone
I've noticed a handful of things that are clues to GW2 mechanics. The announcement of bosses, for example. Since they've used the example of the dragon attacking the bridge several times, I'd say the announcement of "Dragon attack" would be displayed similar to EoTN boss warnings. And when they mentioned the buff to low lvls for EoTN access, the similar buff mentioned for GW2 was the first thing that came to mind. Wouldn't surprise me if the book concept is a test as well.
BuD
Just as we were Beta Testing the BMP during Halloween in the Costume Brawl
KANE OG
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lycan X
Just as we were Beta Testing the BMP during Halloween in the Costume Brawl
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KANE
strcpy
We have been beta testing it since the release of Nightfall then - remember the Consulate Docks mission? It is usually fairly easy to go back and figure out where many features came from when they were first new - a lot of that falls back to the idea of there being almost nothing new under the sun.
Not that I would say you aren't somewhat correct, I'm sure they are paying attention to how a wider ranged "buff" is going to affect things. However that is a far cry from a "beta test" - I doubt they are just doing to see how it works.
Not that I would say you aren't somewhat correct, I'm sure they are paying attention to how a wider ranged "buff" is going to affect things. However that is a far cry from a "beta test" - I doubt they are just doing to see how it works.
wetsparks
It is what good businesses do. Find something that works/people like and build on it. They found an excuse to use this extended weekend event to test how people would respond to the "buffing" of lower level characters (and not how they respond in posts but in the game) and will make changes how they deem necessary instead of having a system in place for GW2 testing and finding out that something doesn't work or the response to how it works is terribly negative.
Hikan Trilear
At this point wouldn't it be more like pre-alpha-testing?
Onarik Amrak
I'd use the term "concept-testing".
semantic
Technically, since they're writing a whole new engine based on the previous game and releasing it as a seperate product, we've been 'beta testing' GW2 since April 05.
That's not a knock against GW1. But it's more or less the case, or will be after GW2 launches.
But you're probably right that some of the new twists to gameplay we've been seeing are part of the big GW2 list somewhere.
That's not a knock against GW1. But it's more or less the case, or will be after GW2 launches.
But you're probably right that some of the new twists to gameplay we've been seeing are part of the big GW2 list somewhere.
JeniM
I like the sound of the defending your "world"
Where he said something like "If 100 people are there thats good, if 200 are thats even better"
Huge epic battles like in BMP (the battle of Turai)
Nooooooo why does it have to be so far away :'(
Where he said something like "If 100 people are there thats good, if 200 are thats even better"
Huge epic battles like in BMP (the battle of Turai)
Nooooooo why does it have to be so far away :'(
KANE OG
Quote:
Originally Posted by semantic
since they're writing a whole new engine
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KANE
-Loki-
Quote:
Originally Posted by KANE OG
Wrong. As I've quoted him before in other threads, Jeff "whatsisname" said specifically in PC Gamer that GW2 was built on the GW1 engine.
KANE |
arcanemacabre
Quote:
Originally Posted by KANE OG
Wrong. As I've quoted him before in other threads, Jeff "whatsisname" said specifically in PC Gamer that GW2 was built on the GW1 engine.
KANE |
JeniM
Quote:
Originally Posted by arcanemacabre
Weird, I could swear that the whole reason they were making a sequel was because there were many things they wanted to implement that couldn't be done with the current engine.
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strcpy
Quote:
Originally Posted by arcanemacabre
Weird, I could swear that the whole reason they were making a sequel was because there were many things they wanted to implement that couldn't be done with the current engine.
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Take a jump button for instance - probably fairly easy to implement in GW1 from a pure engine perspective. However, how will this affect all the maps already done? How about the PvP maps? That is a whole lot of stuff to contend with even with something as simple a jumping. GW1 has little knowledge of a z-axis (it does have some) and that may very well require a massive amount of work to add in, however for a new game designed from the ground up with that in place should be no problem. Jumping is something simple, how about the more radical changes?
*shrug* If they had a really well designed engine from the beginning and focused on enforcing a "good" design then it wouldn't necessarily make sense to scrap it. But then, in my experience that is *really* hard to keep that clean a design over a multi-year project - in fact I generally find that near impossible. Of course, I also do not know exactly how radical the changes they are proposing are - both because we do not know all of them and we do not know the code base (heck, jumping may be the largest change in the whole engine for all we know).
This is especially true if the changes they are talking about were "seen" from the very beginning. I know I have written software in the past where I know it will eventually have a fairly radical change once I have tried enough different cases to know which way is the correct one. I just made sure that the options were all easy to change too and tried to make sure everything I did maintained a great amount of flexibility when it came time to make the "real" version (just in case none of the options I foresaw were correct), though the current version was very much a commercial piece of software and well worth the investment clients put into it.
arcanemacabre
strcpy - very good points. I suppose if the code for the original engine was written in such a way that allowed for a great amount of flexibility, and I don't doubt that, it could be re-worked for a next-gen game like GW2. The only things I am really concerned about are things like physics, lighting, armor/item clipping, better skill animations, etc. If the engine could be molded to include these things, then I'm all for it.
TaCktiX
It will, everything points to it. Everyone complains about GW:EN being "incomplete" or "rushed out there." But look at how GW:EN looks. The water, fire, wind effects in it are astonishing. I remember the preview weekend when their servers were overloaded, I thought that GW:EN had overloaded my computer's ability to render such beauty (thank goodness it hasn't, I love GW on maxed settings).
Now if that's GW:EN, an expansion, just think how much more beautiful GW2 will be, when they've had around a year to modify/redesign the original engine.
As for the comment about older engines: Unreal 3's engine is a heavily modified version of the original Unreal's engine. You build it right (as said before), it can be modified to kingdom come.
Now if that's GW:EN, an expansion, just think how much more beautiful GW2 will be, when they've had around a year to modify/redesign the original engine.
As for the comment about older engines: Unreal 3's engine is a heavily modified version of the original Unreal's engine. You build it right (as said before), it can be modified to kingdom come.
Redfeather1975
Quote:
Originally Posted by arcanemacabre
strcpy - very good points. I suppose if the code for the original engine was written in such a way that allowed for a great amount of flexibility, and I don't doubt that, it could be re-worked for a next-gen game like GW2. The only things I am really concerned about are things like physics, lighting, armor/item clipping, better skill animations, etc. If the engine could be molded to include these things, then I'm all for it.
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But, yes physics would rock if they could pull it off.
Emergent game play is incredible when physics are involved. I really think an mmo fully exploring emergent game play possibilities is long overdue.
Lonesamurai
Quote:
Originally Posted by JeniM
Quote:
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Besides, why is there a second thread about this article over the one inde posted?
zwei2stein
Quote:
Originally Posted by TaCktiX
It will, everything points to it. Everyone complains about GW:EN being "incomplete" or "rushed out there." But look at how GW:EN looks. The water, fire, wind effects in it are astonishing. I remember the preview weekend when their servers were overloaded, I thought that GW:EN had overloaded my computer's ability to render such beauty (thank goodness it hasn't, I love GW on maxed settings).
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And good graphics dont make good game (or at least long lived decend game). Good design does.
Shakkara
I've been thinking the same thing ever since the rollerbeetle race.
"Hey, this could be a test for GW2 controls"
"Hey, this could be a test for GW2 controls"
Fril Estelin
Quote:
Originally Posted by zwei2stein
Superficial stuff like shader effects dont make pretty graphics that add to longevity of game. Good artits do. I couldnt care less about zomg a bit better reflection! Anet is sooo lucky to have decent art team. /check out really old screenies of gw pre and post art change. it was same engine, and preart change stuff looked terrible/
And good graphics dont make good game (or at least long lived decend game). Good design does. |
I personally hope that GW2 will raise the standard even higher than GW1, still keeping that delicate balance that enable the client to play on all PCs, even the modest ones!
zwei2stein
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fril Estelin
I fully agree with the first part of your answer, but not with the 2nd one: an artist cannot express himself if he doesn't have the tools. Shaders and othe reflection models may seem superfluous, but it is sometimes essential to what is shown. But let's not forget that the two aspects work hand in hand: GW is inherently amazing thanks to great artists that found a fabulous dev team to help them express their art.
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If its used correctly, you dont notice that effect being there, it just fits.
Besides, good texture on good model goes a LONG way in implementing artist vision.
(for example, lots of games feature beautifull realistic water, which looks totally unrealistic because rest of game is not compatible with it, should artist have not used effects, it would look much better.)
Fril Estelin
Quote:
Originally Posted by zwei2stein
Thats true, but such tools often become abused just to show off thier existance. I guess its to impress people who go all wild on such things. (i.e. such abuse are "new" portal effects - totally out of place and screaming "look, we have shaders!").
If its used correctly, you dont notice that effect being there, it just fits. Besides, good texture on good model goes a LONG way in implementing artist vision. (for example, lots of games feature beautifull realistic water, which looks totally unrealistic because rest of game is not compatible with it, should artist have not used effects, it would look much better.) |
I would even speculate about another aspect related to this: going one step further than the 2d art, I'm wondering whether Anet will bring 3d art to a new level by introducing these nice "movements" such as jumping, rolling, et caetera. We already have nice emotes with basic movements, just imagine GW2 which would look like dance art (not as a central component of the game of course, similarly to the fact that the current beauty of the graphics do not make GW1). And let's not forget sound and music, they been improving slowly but steadily since GW1 through the 6 other projects.
Balan Makki
Beta testing?? well, Yeah. Why wouldn't they. They did say EoTN would give players a taste of GW2.
You can bet those fancy stealth skills Gwen has in the BMP will likely see inclusion in some form in GW2. . .
My only gripe about the article is the Mention of "High" and "Low" levels in the Mists PvP. Suggesting there will be overpowered players in PvP means "That this is an old article as much has changed since this interview was taken. I can hardly wait two years."
You can bet those fancy stealth skills Gwen has in the BMP will likely see inclusion in some form in GW2. . .
My only gripe about the article is the Mention of "High" and "Low" levels in the Mists PvP. Suggesting there will be overpowered players in PvP means "That this is an old article as much has changed since this interview was taken. I can hardly wait two years."
Bryant Again
Quote:
Originally Posted by Redfeather1975
Physics would be awesome. I just can't figure out how they can accomplish that in a massive multiplayer persistent environment.
But, yes physics would rock if they could pull it off. Emergent game play is incredible when physics are involved. I really think an mmo fully exploring emergent game play possibilities is long overdue. |
In terms of testing the concepts for GW2 (wouldn't say beta-testing), I'd agree. And I haven't seen a whole lot of negative feedback, so that means so far so good!
Gaile Gray
Just FYI: The interview to which this thread links is old. According to Mike O'Brien, this was a phone interview given back when all the other interviews were being done, around the announcement of GW2 and even GW:EN, well before the release of the Bonus Mission Pack -- likely back in the spring or summer of this year.
Just thought you'd want to know.
Just thought you'd want to know.
Balan Makki
Whew, I was actually looking for a date to that article, I'm in high hopes that much is still evolving, has evolved since those announcements and first articles.
mazey vorstagg
Thanks Gaile, good to know. We thought nothing had changed since last time we heard!
semantic
Quote:
Originally Posted by KANE OG
Wrong. As I've quoted him before in other threads, Jeff "whatsisname" said specifically in PC Gamer that GW2 was built on the GW1 engine.
KANE |
Bryant Again
Another thing they're "testing" for GW2 in GW1 could be with the instanced quests we've been doing. Whaddya'll think?
Liberations
What they were doing was building on to the Guild Wars 1 engine for Guild Wars 2. The problem probably was the overwhelming amount of existing things that would have to be tweaked to recognize this change.
The Guild Wars 2 engine will probably be a more adaptive and stronger version of the Guild Wars 1 engine. Sort of like an evolution of the engine if you ask me.
The Guild Wars 2 engine will probably be a more adaptive and stronger version of the Guild Wars 1 engine. Sort of like an evolution of the engine if you ask me.
KANE OG
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gaile Gray
Just FYI: The interview to which this thread links is old. According to Mike O'Brien, this was a phone interview given back when all the other interviews were being done, around the announcement of GW2 and even GW:EN, well before the release of the Bonus Mission Pack -- likely back in the spring or summer of this year.
Just thought you'd want to know. |
KANE
strcpy
Quote:
Originally Posted by KANE OG
LMFAO Mizz Gray. The link I provided is on the front page of Guru right now. Is anet, and/or Guru giving outdated info or what?
KANE |
Now, if GamersGlobal published the interview ages ago then both Guru and you have some blame, but still I can't see how that would be the fault of Anet.
Nevin
Sounds like a conspiracy theory to me, but in reality theres lots of evidence to back this up.
tmakinen
I don't find anything wrong with this kind of concept testing - quite the contrary, having a vision for a wonderfully innovative new game is one thing but finding the mechanisms that both flesh out that vision and also entice people to play it is another issue altogether. The really ingenious insight that made GW stand apart from the rest of the MMORPG genre was the proposition that level (and thus grinding) is pretty much inconsequential for the enjoyment of a game. The original GW got it right to a large extent, now these new game modes (EotN buff, Costume Brawl, BMP) that are introduced to test the reactions of the community point to a direction where even the remaining vestiges of off-the-shelf RPG mechanisms are discarded.
Balan Makki
Quote:
Originally Posted by tmakinen
I don't find anything wrong with this kind of concept testing - quite the contrary, having a vision for a wonderfully innovative new game is one thing but finding the mechanisms that both flesh out that vision and also entice people to play it is another issue altogether. The really ingenious insight that made GW stand apart from the rest of the MMORPG genre was the proposition that level (and thus grinding) is pretty much inconsequential for the enjoyment of a game. The original GW got it right to a large extent, now these new game modes (EotN buff, Costume Brawl, BMP) that are introduced to test the reactions of the community point to a direction where even the remaining vestiges of off-the-shelf RPG mechanisms are discarded.
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I also think it is wise that Arena Net has not committed themselves fully to the GW2 design direction by releasing solid details on what they plan to do. Until they fully commit, they really should not let slip too many details.
What's impressive is how quickly many players are catching onto the alternate form of player advancement. It was weird when I first started playing GW, but now, I cannot imagine playing it any other way. I'm no longer a Leveling addict, I'm a Title addict, at least titles say something about you, rather than just placing a number above your head. And the fact that they're optional and non-linear is just . . . well it's Brilliant.
maraxusofk
plz plz bring vizunah square style missions into gw2. there arent enuff missions determined by a completely random factor. if gw2 isnt instanced as much as gw1, i say more random fail for gw2 lulz.