In Days of Old

I couldn't really decide where this should go, so I decided to post it here. It may be that it needs to be in the Site Suggestions forum... Or not. I dunno. Your call, mods.

I remember the first glimpse I ever got of Guild Wars in action. It was that old trailer with the bad narration, using the old Alpha version graphics. Those who've been following Guild Wars for a few years will know what I'm talking about: Angular characters, simple textures and a very cartoony sort of feel to everything. It looked like a completely different game.

I can't speak for anyone else here, but I'm interested in hearing what Guild Wars was like in those days. Were any of the Alphas that hang out here on the team back then, or was it all pretty much ArenaNet staff? I know these probably aren't things that you can talk about right now, but will it be permitted after release? I know the Alpha program is supposed to continue indefinately, for future expansions and such, but will the NDA on all old material be lifted after the game's out? As someone who's followed Guild Wars since it first began appearing on the internet, I'm very curious about how it's evolved. Was the old appearance made up only of placeholder graphics, or is that how the game was originally intended to look? How did gameplay then differ from gameplay now? Were there any old skills that were thrown out with the trash, and why? How did the attributes and the system behind them change and evolve over time? Was the Stealth attribute that I've heard about ever actually implemented at one time, or was the idea scrapped before it could make it into the game? Were there any other attributes for the other classes that were considered but didn't make the cut?

I know these seem like the sort of questions that developers would have better answers for than testers, but it's not really a developer's point of view that I'm interested in hearing. Maybe some of these questions have answers scattered throughout the internet, but I think an article or series of articles consolidating information on how Guild Wars became Guild Wars, written entirely from a tester's point of view, would be a very interesting read. Appologies if something like this already exists somewhere, but I haven't been able to find anything with the level of detail I'm looking for.

Well, [NDA breach] in the [NDA breach] was great when [NDA breach]. What? A breach? Scapes did it! It wasn't me!

Unfortunately, half of the questions you asked fall under the NDA. It would also probably be a breach to elaborate more on what the NDA covers.

As for old graphics, there were some old photos floating around of when GW looked almost like WoW. There's a logical answer as why that would be, and I'm sure someone can dig them up for you.

Basically, it might probably be better to ask some old GW veterans who are not bound by the NDA, as public knowledge does go back pretty far, and pretty extensively. If someone wanted to, they can also dig out old skill changes based on what was seen during the BWEs. There are also many many interviews that might shed light on the path of Guild Wars development. Anything beyond the scope of the BWEs and/or public interviews, however, isn't advisable.

Ok, I feel pretty stupid, but NDA?


I read that and my mind went blank.

Well, if you'll notice, I was saying it would be nice to see the answers to these questions after the game is released if the NDA on old material is lifted at that time.

And, yes, I'm aware that a lot of the info is floating around on the 'net, but nowhere (that I know of) is it consolidated into one easy to read article or series of articles. Especially not from a player's point of view. I've ready plenty of interviews and articles over the years, but many points made in them tend to repeat themselves and it's difficult to pick out which info is unique to which conversation.

I dunno. Just something I thought would be fun to see at some point. I love reading stuff like this.

Non Disclosure Agreement (I'm pretty sure thats what it means)

Ah, thank you. Carry on with the subject then.

If you'd also notice, I said "half of your questions." I didn't specify which half, so of course there's a possibility that the question was addressed. Either way.

As for not having all the public information in a nice place all gathered together, if you're interested so much, why not just do it? And yes, NDA = Non-disclosure Agreement.

Well, it's not just the hard data I'm after. I'd enjoy seeing it written up in essay form, from the point of view of someone who actually played the game in those early days. Not just the answers to the questions I asked (and more) but things like what their reaction was when they first logged in, what their thoughts on it were at the time, how those thoughts changed as the game changed, etc. There are similar things available from developers (minus a lot of interesting info that they probably couldn't give out at the time) but not, because of the NDA, from early testers. Once the NDA on old material is lifted, it'd be nice to get the whole story from one or more of them.