Looking Forward: The Future of Guild Wars
By Virgil, posted Jul 30, 01:14 PM
The original Guild Wars was released over four years ago. Although there has been plenty of new content and additions since then, the announcement that Guild Wars 2 is in the works has left many players anxious in anticipation. While most of info on Guild Wars 2 has been general and vague, there’s plenty of hints about what this new game will bring. But will it recapture the original audience?
Disclaimer: Guild Wars 2 is a game by ArenaNet currently under development. All information provided here is either speculation or subject to change.
I. Introduction
The Guild Wars 2 announcement in March of 2007 caught a lot of people off guard. Nightfall was only a few months old, and the original campaign was only approaching its second anniversary. Player reactions were mixed. Some were angry, knowing that new chapters were being delayed or canceled outright. Some were downright thrilled at the prospect of the newest version of their favorite game. Some people were skeptical, especially after hearing talk about things like no level cap.
I was part of the skeptical crowd. The original Guild Wars was, for the time, an incredibly unique game. It tried to solve a lot of problems with the genre that players had been complaining about for years. Philosophically, it wanted to be different. The execution might not have been perfect, and even now, some people question if ArenaNet succeeded at all. But Guild Wars 2 provides a clean slate, another chance at making another game the stands out from the rest. It has another chance at cementing those core values that lured many of us to play in the first place. But does it want to? Is Guild Wars 2 poised to bring back original players?
II. Inception – The Big Bad Betas
I might not have been around at the very beginning, but I would still consider myself a Guild Wars veteran. I put the game on my radar as early as August of 2004, logged in for the first time during the October 2004 World Preview Event, and haven’t looked back since. Other players will recall the time in-between (and during) beta events as exciting. Partly because we were so eager to get another taste of the game. But partly because we knew Guild Wars was trying something different.
For those who weren’t around back then, ArenaNet ran a community feature called “Fansite Fridays”. Each week, they would answer a set of questions provided by different fansites. While we waited for the next beta, we would learn more about the game. And we would also learn more about what made the game great. We would learn more about the Guild Wars philosophy.
Most of the buzzwords and mantras used back then have long since passed, but seasoned players will remember hearing “skill over time spent”, “having fun, not preparing to have fun”, and “CORPG (competitive online RPG)”. At its core, Guild Wars was designed to be both casual and competitive. Low level cap, easily maximized character stats, instantly maxed PvP characters, and the absence of “uber” drops allowed players to jump into the game and access competitive game types on a level playing field.
PvE players wouldn’t have to worry about ganking, player killing, ninja looting, level requirements, or excessive grind. PvP players wouldn’t have to worry about PvE – there would be no barriers to jumping straight into the action. No player would be rewarded simply for logging in more hours than another. Character power was capped; obstacles, PvE and PvP alike, would have to be overcome by skill. Even now, looking at those ideals – that’s a game I want to play!
The game was frequently compared to WoW. TGH had it’s own flurry of “GW vs WoW” threads, giving fanboys an arena to duke it out. But, for anyone who really understood what Guild Wars was all about, it wasn’t a valid comparison. It was comparing apples to oranges. In a way, Guild Wars was trying to be everything WoW and other MMOs weren’t.
III. Execution – Release and Beyond
It’s hard to evaluate how well the release fulfilled the game’s ambitions. On one hand, it was a massive success. Instancing technology instantly removed scores of common MMO complaints. PvP characters could jump into competition with a few mouse clicks. Character power capped off at level 20, as promised, and after that, progress demanded ingenuity. Pick up groups were simple – no level requirements or any other time based discrimination. There was little preparing to have fun – 15 minutes before dinner really was enough time to play some arenas or do a quick quest. Content was meaningful – there wasn’t a single “kill 100 enemies” quest to speak of. Characters couldn’t ever be gimped – attributes could be changed. Changing attributes doesn’t seem like much now, but back then, it was huge.
But, at the same time, release failed on many fronts. Resetting attributes had a catch – refund points required you to grind for XP after making so many changes. PvP characters couldn’t access the same equipment as PvE characters. But worst of all, skill unlocking was painfully slow and laborious. PvP characters could only use skills that PvE characters had unlocked first. PvE characters had difficulty getting skill points, and trainers offered very few skills. Signets of Capture required bosses to still be alive and to have cast the elite. The bottom line was ugly – Guild Wars had grind.
Guild Wars has changed a lot since release, to be sure. I won’t do full justice here (partly because this isn’t a retrospective, but partly because I’m not able to recall all the changes), but from a philosophical standpoint, many of the changes have been steps in the right direction. But some seem to have gone backwards. Again, and I can’t reiterate this enough, the following evaluates changes based on original game philosophy only. There are a lot of good changes that simply have nothing to do with the ideals of how Guild Wars was designed.
The Good
- Removing refund points: this change gave players the freedom to instantly change their character setups.
- Balthazar faction (and all increases): allowing PvP players to unlock skills by playing PvP was a major shift in the right direction. Although still potentially considered grind, this preparation to have fun was identical to actually having fun. Players just weren’t fully equipped.
- Flames of Balthazar, Stars of Transference, Tomes, Skill and Equipment templates: allowed players to setup new characters faster.
- Reduced level XP cap, added skill point rewards to missions: gave more flexibility in early skill acquisition for Factions and Nightfall: all made it easier for new players to unlock skills.
- PvP equipment screen and locking armor swapping: ensured that PvP characters could access all items that PvE characters could get.
- PvP Unlock Packs: allowed players to get 100% setup for PvP instantly.
The Bad
- PvE skills: while groups would previously require players to have specific skills, PvE skills usually require a more involved process than simply buying or capturing it. This adds grind and unnecessary preparation to PvE.
- (Some) Titles: some titles directly impact the effectiveness of PvE skills (see above), but some directly impact character power. Groups now set requirements for r10 lightbringer or norn or asura simply because characters who spent the time to max those attributes are more powerful, which spits in the face of “skill over time spent”.
The Questionable
- Consumables and Summoning Stones: these additions directly make characters or parties stronger and require some time or money investment to acquire.
- Heroes: they have the same setup issues that normal characters do – skills need to be unlocked. From a PvP standpoint, heroes can do things a lot better than many players, and having that advantage requires that players take the time to acquire and equip heroes. (Note – with the recent changes, this issue looks to be remedied)
A lot of the changes over the years have been part of a larger effort to appease the “hardcore” PvE audience, and there’s no denying that Guild Wars has continually evolved into a more PvE focused game. But in the beginning, it was obvious – Guild Wars was designed to be a casual game for PvE. At release, there was little for PvE characters to do after finishing the all Prophecies missions. Literally, outside of Underworld and Fissure of Woe, there was no PvE endgame content. Although never said outright, [I]PvP was the endgame[/I]. There was an implicit expectation that players would start playing PvE to learn the game and experience the content, but after that, would venture into the competitive aspect. After all, it was a CORPG. PvE was just the first taste.
A lot of players didn’t bite. Some just wouldn’t touch PvP with a ten-foot pole. And that was fine – Guild Wars was designed for a larger audience and favored casual over hardcore play. Around the release of Factions, ArenaNet said publicly that Guild Wars was great because it allowed players to play for a while, then put the game down, and come back when new content was introduced or when they felt like playing more.
But many players didn’t put the game down. They kept playing and, very quickly, finished all the PvE content. Like any eager group of players, they wanted more. Guild Wars was a great game with a great experience, they didn’t want it to end. So ArenaNet obliged – Titan Quests, Sorrows Furnace, and the new Tombs were created. Chests, keys, and green weapons were added for the collector types. Titles now recognized player accomplishments.
But Factions tried to reinforce the original goal – PvP after PvE. Fort Aspenwood, Jade Quarry, and Alliance Battles all presented hybrid modes that could ease the transition. Even Challenge missions provided a more competitive feel. But they weren’t entirely successful. Of all the new game modes, Alliance Battles was the only one to really take off, but it didn’t seem like many people went from AB to real PvP.
Of course, Factions didn’t abandon the PvE hardcore outright – it had The Deep and Urgoz Warren. By the time Nightfall rolled around, the PvE swing was starting to gain steam. Not only did Nightfall bring the Domain of Anguish, but it also saw some of the first grind-centric PvE titles – sunspear and lightbringer. Then Hard Mode was added. Eye of the North was almost exclusively endgame PvE and took grindy titles to a new level.
I’m not saying that the increased focus on PvE is a bad thing. It certainly aided the success of Guild Wars, brought more people to the game, and probably even increased the PvP playerbase. As a hybrid player, I’ve personally enjoyed a lot of the changes and additions. But they do beg the question, has Guild Wars strayed from its original goals? And, more importantly, is this a precursor for an outright PvE focused Guild Wars 2?
IV. Extension – A New Guild Wars
The question at hand is simple – will I want to play Guild Wars 2? If I played exclusively PvP, will I want to play Guild Wars 2? If I used PvE as a base to get into PvP, will I want to play Guild Wars 2? If I enjoyed PvE but only had the time to play casually, will I want to play Guild Wars 2? If I hate grind, will I want to play Guild Wars 2? Obviously that’s not a question that can be answered now. The public hasn’t had a chance to play it; in fact, in over two years since the announcement, not a single screenshot has been released. The only way to start getting an answer is by looking at some of the ideas set forth.
UAX
From a philosophical standpoint, UAX is arguably the single most encouraging feature of Guild Wars 2. For players interested in “Structured PvP” (hardcore PvP), everything will be unlocked. Finally, the magical beta button will return.
World PvP
Although it’s pretty clear that Guild Wars 2 does not have the expectation or implication of “play PvP after PvE”, World PvP will hopefully serve as a good bridge for players to enter the competitive community. Depending on implementation, World PvP could help ensure that the PvP community is constantly growing with new, skilled competitors.
Sidekicks
This feature can potentially reinforce “skill over time spent” by allowing lower-level characters to play with higher-level characters without penalty. This could also keep casual players interested, allowing them to participate with their more hardcore friends in a meaningful way.
Level Cap
Potentially the most devastating blow against the original values, Guild Wars 2 is going to have a very high, or potentially unlimited, level cap. Details have been vague – if power caps off, then is the number meaningless? If power doesn’t cap, then there’s infinite grind (and sidekicks can only go so far; this would be unadulterated time spent over skill). Of course, [URL=“http://www.guild-hall.net/forum/showthread.php?t=46393”]other alternatives[/URL] have been suggested.
Character Races and Racial Attributes
Players will be able to have characters with different races, each race having different attributes (for example, Norns can have increased health/melee damage). It’s hard to imagine any players accepting mismatched character/race combinations (like a tank that isn’t a Norn). Depending on how classes are implemented, this could be a surefire way to “gimp” characters, something the original game made impossible.
Persistence
Although instancing technology might not create the most social game, it certainly solved a lot of MMO issues. Guild Wars 2 will have both instanced and persistent areas. That begs the question – if all significant content is going to be instanced, what’s the point of persistence? If certain content is contained in persistent areas, how are the problems going to be dealt with?
Solo-able
“You will be able to advance your character to the maximum level without ever joining a group if you so desire. Most content will be designed in a solo-friendly way…” That could have a lot of negative implications. First and foremost, it could mean that there is very little relevant distinction between classes/races, that everyone can finish the same content. Lack of specialization would lead to very boring mechanics. Additionally, all of that content could end up very similar – grind. This could also hint at other added MMO elements, like persistent spawns and subsequent camping – more grind. Finally, “scaling up” difficulty for parties doesn’t exactly translate into “creating novel and exciting encounters that frequently require players to use their skill to overcome unfamiliar challenges.”
I’ll leave the decision up to you. It’s worth mentioning that it will include “a strong narrative, extensive instanced gameplay, an anti-grind design philosophy, and strong support for competitive play.” Of course, everything will be impossible to verify without actually playing the game. If only we had a beta. Or a trailer. Or a screenshot.
-Virgil
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