Guild Wars 2--Updated Impressions

This blip, dated January 10, which I stumbled across the other day, contains almost nothing new: Games Radar Guild Wars 2--Updated Impressions.

... so don't expect anything from it.

What did sort of catch my eye, though, was this line...

It made me wonder whether the henches and Heroes might still be around in GW2 after all. I wasn't quite sure what to make of the "join up with an AI party" bit.

wow thats really really neat!!!!!

Not only do AI steal all your good drops, but now they will steal XP from you as well! what a swell IDEA!!!

I will sorely miss heroes and henchies if they are not around in GW2. I don't want to just be able to solo by myself I like that GW now practically requires a group but at least you can do it with a hero and henchie group. I don't think I could deal with losing my heroes, I could probably give up the henchies though. I have such perfectly built heroes.

I completely agree with you. I have sometimes wondered whether the Companion NPC referred to for GW2 might be something you could bring along if you wanted in the persistent areas of GW2 -- akin to the Hunter's pet in a game such as WoW, but that GW2 might retain the Heroes system for its instanced areas. I would certainly like an arrangement like that, I think.

It will be hard for me to change over to just solo play alone or some silly companion only. My heroes are like family to me and also an extention of me. I have such a synergy built between the four of us we can take on areas and missions only other groups of 8 MIGHT be able to complete. I mean I'm doing hard modes with just my 3 heroes. Mainly monks, necros and fire eles is all I use. You have to be amazed that your builds are so good that you can just stand back and watch your three heroes kill all the mobs in hard mode by themselves. I will just hate losing that kind of ability in GW2 if I buy it.

I think I read some of this before. It seemed familiar.

Anyways, I found it funny that the first line of the article was not accurate.

"Fans of Guild Wars have been sated with expansion packs - three so far (Nightfall, Factions and Eye of the North)"

Truth is only EoTN was a true expansion. Factions and Nightfall, although part of the original Guild Wars lore, are stand-alone games with the ability to link with the other stand alones.

Sure, it might be splitting hairs, but there is a difference between Expansion and stand-alone.

All I can say, from all the limited information the public has on GW2, is that I'm expecting a lot of the things we love about GW1 will be in GW2. I know a lot of people are expecting a WoW clone, but I'm just not seeing that. Of course, it's hard to see anything really; There simply isn't much information of GW2 out there yet, other than some interviews with little content, hinted ideas, and cryptic references.

I'm expecting soon that as this year begins to unfold, we'll start getting detailed information on what GW2 will be, not what we think it will be.

Well, this is nothing new........

GW2 will have grind like the last two installments of this GW I have no doubt about that. There will be title grinds and level grinds, but, not to the seriousness as a WOW, but, grind yes still will be present. I've seen enough 2's, II's and TWO's of games to know they don't just toss out the kitchen sink when making a sequel to these games. They are continuations and improvements if anything. Some people just have to face that some people like an enjoy grind. There's an awful lot of people grinding titles in GW now. I for one only grind the ones that are character beneficial like treasure hunter, wisdom, lucky, sunspear and lightbringer. I also grind for the pve skills that will improve my character(s) I play. I may not make 10,000,000 for Faction pve skills, but, at least I have the ones that i want that are still beneficial to me. And of course we all know how powerful Ursan Blessing is already.

The only thing I want to see GW2 get away from is level caps and item caps or at least increase the number of upgrades allowed in items and increase the maximum allowable damage to something beyond 15^50. I want to see some "haste" mods. I can't believe GW doesn't have a single haste mod for weapons. Cmon a simple 10% haste mod please in place of 15^50 or at least something that would be equivalent to 15^50 in speed of attack. I also want to see "rare" items remain rare, if anything they are just ruining this GW by making everything droppable out of that Zashien chest except very rare green items. Rare items are good for the game, it gives people goals and drives along with setting up a few people as elite.

I'd also like to see more armor slots instead of the paultry few we have now. Rings and Earrings and necklaces and belts would be nice just to add more vanity items we can get and equip our characters with. I'd like some Jordan rings please that add +2 to certain attributes.

With so many other inaccuracies, I'm going to take the XP thing with a whole barrel of salt.

*plans to find a good place to AFK in the wilderness of GW2*

I'd like this sentence to sound more or less like that:
But it seems AN knows what's best for their own game! :tard:

The XP thing has to be a misprint. In WoW, for example, you do get more EXP for grouping...but the normal EXP, along with the bonus, is split among your party members. So it's not "more" EXP. (although killing enemies at a faster rate may accelerate your leveling speed...)

If it doesn't work that way, i.e. you flat out get more EXP by being in a group itself, it'll open itself to ridiculous kinds of abuse.

(And yes, hehe at ArenaNet for ADMITTING grind...)

OK, re-reading it,

"If you’re just grinding, you’ll be able to join up with an AI party, but playing with real-life online humans will net you more experience."

could mean that you'll have a richer online experience...

but that's a very generous interpretation.



Zinger: I hope that GW2 will give XP bonuses for when you're not playing, like WoW does.

They basicly did that 8 months ago when they said it wouldn't have a level cap...

Lack of an AI party and persistent zones are the two big things keeping me away from GW2. Well, those and the "context sensitive skill system" where you have to jump and cast, or sidestep and cast, or stand on your head and cast to get the effect you want. Some small part of me still hopes they just change their minds on these bafflingly stupid ideas, but the realistic side of me is just looking for a new game to play.

No offence,but I think these are thing most people are looking forward most too.

I don't think higher levels = grind.

I define grind as doing something unpleasant in order to advance the storyline, ie, farming faction points could be considered "grind."

If GW2 is fun, then gaining levels will be fun, and there will be no grind. I never understood the concept that games only "begin" when you've capped out your equipment and levels. To me, that's when the game "ends" and it's time to re-roll. (could help explain why I have 13 Guild Wars characters...)

Which is why I'm looking for a new game. They're turning GW2 into an MMOG, for the MMOG crowd. I don't play MMOG's. How anyone can turn on local chat in LA 1 and say to themselves "gee, wouldn't it be great if these people were out playing in explorable areas with me too?" is completely beyond me.

My interpretation of the quote was that it was a way to promote grouping with players and less with the AI. Really I don't see there being a detrimental drop in xp if you do use AI. Of course it's always fun to speculate, so I don't really know what to believe or expect.

I'm with Sonata on what I am seeing GW2 to be like. I don't get the feeling it will be like other MMO's out there, similar yes, but not to the extent some people are making it out to be.

I note that the Games Radar text seems to originate with a PC Gamer article about the Most Anticipated Games of 2008

QFT.

And also note at the top of the article that this article is not Anet giving info. It clearly says "Words: PC Gamer UK". And as the title states, this is only an "updated impression", ie. someones interpretation of Anet's words.

To be honest, the less heroes the better. I have fond memories of when GW used to be a co-operative game and people would play with each other to accomplish a common goal.

Sounds like D2.Heroes are a big part of my game.It will be interesting to see more info on GW2.

A.Net has said officially that you will get a buff IF you do not bring a companion. So I can easily see GamesRadar mishearing or misinterpreting that especially since they don't understand the expansion concept.

Vinraith, your posts always make me laugh. You're always so ... optimistic.

I do think you need to give ArenaNet more credit, though. I mean, after all they have done to develop the Hero mechanic, it's hard to imagine they'd just ... abandon them in favor of one Uber Hero. Although, they might....

[Secret Hope: That they retain the Hero mechanic but allow you to play your alts as your NPC Heroes. ]

As much as I love my heroes and I think they are one of the best features of GW, It DOES take away a lot of the co-op feel of the game. Every once in a while I'll get in a PuG again and remember why it can be so fun.

So you want GW2 to be able to let friendly AI play the game for you like GW, eh?

I agree that GW2 should have Heroes or at least 1 uber Hero/companion AI (I believe I read it will), but having so much AI help wouldn't be good for the game...


.......... and you want GW2 to be like Final Fantasy XI, eh? LOL

Updated impressions? What? There's nothing to that article at all... it reads like the first 5% of 8 month old ones...

do you think it will be compatible with the old gw? i hope so because i havnt had the game that long and once the new ones out no one will play the original gw...

I really really am looking forward to having no instanced areas

Forcing us to pug?

AI could mean heroes as well :P

I'm sincerely glad I can provide some entertainment.

Unfortunately, they've already said there won't be heroes in the game. I'm... confused by that, because as you say they've gone quite far with hero mechanics and they added quite a lot to the game for a lot of people. I know I'm not alone in that I was brought back to Guild Wars by heroes after becoming very frustrated with the fact that I couldn't succeed in high level areas with just a friend or two and henchmen. I thought Anet had learned something there: that you can't force people to group with strangers just by making the AI crappy. Instead, the lesson they seem to have taken is that solo players should be denied a complex strategic experience by forcing them to play truly alone: no AI companions (beyond one optional one that gimps you if you use it).

Anyway, I'd love nothing more than to give Anet credit where credit is due. Guild Wars has been a fantastic game that's given me enjoyment for better than a thousand hours. I can't remotely complain about that, its minor flaws are far outweighed by its strengths. It's unfortunate, then, that those very strengths are being removed from the design for GW2 to cater to the MMOG crowd.

My sentiments exactly.

As for AI, I can do without heroes and henchmen in GW2. Prefer it that way. Guess we'll see what happens.

The options are going to be PUG or play without a party (unles you happen to have a full party-worth of friends who not only play the game, but have loose enough schedules that they play at the same time you do). Since I'm guessing they'll be scaling by party size, that'll likely deny all the high end items to solo players. It's final victory of the "people should be forced to play with me, heroes are TEH SUXXORZ" crowd.

AMEN!!

(I should've just added extra exclamation points to get this message up to 12 characters. ^_^)

I love HEROES! I like to run all my side-quests solo and sometimes even the main missions (Though I mainly do Main Mission with my GF and Guildies). I mean what is Guild Wars without Heroes?

This article is just bad. It's based only on info known for over a half year, sounds just as it was a pile of rewritten rumors based on another rewritten article that was based on the original PCGamer article +the Jeff Strain interview.
Now just imagine another website wanting to draw readers by posting a 'new' GW2 article, and basing it on *this* one. The rewritter can further bias the info, concentrate on something unimportant, emphasize something that doesn't matter, or even make up something new ... like in this sentence: No other sources mentioned AI parties (except a single Companion per player), none mentioned simple grinding, nor any XP penalties. I call pure BS on this, pulled by author from thin air.

No argument from me. One would have expected better from PC Gamer, however, from which the text is lifted pretty much verbatim.

I do find it odd how "quiet" ArenaNet has been regarding GW2. I mean there's been barely anything official from them for many months now. Most other games in development have active websites, screenshots, and the like far in advance of game release.

My guess is too many controversial issues to resolve. They dont want to release information on one aspect of the game and risk making an entire population of users unhappy, and would rather release a lot of information about multiple aspects right at the get go. That way while some would not like one aspect, and others another, most are going to like most aspects in some combination.

Or, they havent gotten that far yet and cant agree amongst themselves on some of the issues.

I think the new party system will be an epic failure. Mainly because I can see a certain scenario come into play:

<Vala Of The Fens(the hot GW2 version) loads up GW2>
Vala: Can someone help me kill some Charr? I could take them with my companion but I want more exp.
Warrior: What level?
Vala: They're level 10. There are a bunch of nukers in the groups though.
W: kk. Where you at?
Vala: Near the [insert geographic landmark].
Mesmer: Can I come with you guys? I need to level up.
Vala: ping your build plz.
Me: [skill bar full of disorganized crap] I know my build is crap but its the best I can do.
Vala: Ok. Just stay in the back ok?
W: I have a monk guildie coming.
<a mob is approaching>
Vala: Let the warrior take the aggro and we'll nuke the group.
W: I'll ping when I'm rdy for you to come closer.
Me: kk.
Monk: ok
<tank pings and Monk runs into battle>
Vala: wtf?!?!
Me: the stupid monk is smite!
Mo: u didn't say I had to be healz
<tank dies>
W: dude! y didn't u heal me?
Mo: I'm smiter
W: y didn't u say that b4 we started?
Mo:...
Me: gtg bye
<Mesmer leaves>
Vala: great...now we have to find some1 else. ur a noob monk.
Mo: STFU! I had 5 15k armor sets, fissure armor, AND tormented weapons for all my GW1 toons! so i'm not a noob.
Vala: You're a noob with too much free time. bye
<Vala logs off mad>