I would like you, to keep this quote in mind - as you read this Blogpost.
"Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future."
John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) Thirty-fifth President of the USA
For far too long, the MMORPG genre has relied on the same basic mechanics and direction. Not only in actual gameplay, but in many other features - that we almost accept as the norm. After experiencing very similiar patterns, humans by nature - learn to accept situations and make the best of what is given. However, it is now time to wake up and relish the change!
The Holy-trinity
Tank, Healer and DPS is now commonly accepted as the basic gameplay mechanic for almost all PVE content, in a vast majority of MMORPG's. The Tank, stands infront of an enemy - taking the brunt of the damage. The Healer, then watches UI health bars and presses buttons according to how the UI health bars change. The DPS, avoid anything that looks as though it will hurt and follow a set rotation every fight to maximize their damage output.
This mechanic, imposes strict guidlines that players must follow to be successful. A Guild can follow the exact same procedure, week after week - and down a boss every single time. This makes PVE content static and very linear. It confines the players into strict roles - according to their chosen class/profession and a set of orders they must follow.
What will Guild Wars 2, do different?
Guild Wars 2 is getting rid of the Holy-Trinity. They are equipping all the eight professions with the necassary tools to carry out any given task. Control, Support and Damage. An enemy is attacking you? Control them and stop them getting close to you. An enemy is trying to chase a friend down? Support them, by granting them the Swiftness Boon - so that they can out-maneuver the enemy. Whilst your team mates are doing the above, you can stand back and inflict mass damage on the enemy. Players will be able to adapt on the move and dynamically use the appropriate skills for the situation.
The Grind and Gear Treadmill
Most AAA games, rely on a subscription model to gain an income. Therefore, they have to provide a means for players to want to keep playing their game - for aslong as possible. Usually, this persuasive device comes in the form of a Grind or Gear Treadmill. This can be implemented in various ways, such as:
Raids, that drop small amounts of specific loot, forcing players to re-run raids every week and attempt to gear up their Guild.
Making the levelling process slow down more and more as you progress through the levels.
Entry barriers or gearcheck gates. They basically force a player to reach a certain Item Level to enter an heroic dungeon or raid. The player, then has to run dungeon, after dungeon, to achieve a certain Item Level - adequate to enter the chosen content.
In most MMORPG's, players have to play PVE content all the way to maximum level - before they can enter into competitive PVP. What about the players that don't want to play PVE content? Is that fair?
What will Guild Wars 2, do different?
Arenanet are not using a subscription model, for Guild Wars 2. Instead, you buy the game once and play it as much as you want to. Yet, they are still releasing an equally polished and fantastic game.
Players earn Karma and Tokens for doing various things in the game, that they can then spend on the peice of gear - that they actually want.
Guild Wars 2 will have something called a power plateau. It means that once players reach around level 30 - it will then take them the same amount of time to progress to the next level, all the way to maximum level. This, effectively removes the grind of levelling.
Guild Wars 2 has a system called Side-kicking. If I really want to goto a certain area in the game, that is 15 levels above my current level of 30 - I can ask a high level friend to side-kick me upto level 45. I will still only have access to the skills I currently have unlocked, but I will gain the extra stats needed to be effective in the given area. It also works, by scaling players down - so that they can experience lower level content and still gain a sense of challenge.
In Guild Wars 2, all players are boosted to maximum level, gear, skills and traits in structured PVP. This means, that if you want to strictly play PVP, then you can do so. Players will not be forced to participate in the PVE aspect of the game.
Questing - or the lack of it
"Can you please save our village, from them horrid buffalo creatures? Even though, they aren't actually attacking us...they are just standing in that field right next to our village - can you please kill them?"
The above quote, pretty much sums up the types of quests we have all been accustomed to. We run over to a woman in the middle of a field (with a giant yellow exclamation mark on her head) and read the above quote. We then go and kill 10 buffalo creatures and apparently, we have finished the quest. We then speak to the lady again, who tells us "Thank you for saving my village, here is 10gold." However, as we turn around and run to the next exclamation mark - we spot another 20 buffalo's in that very same field!
There is no sense of reward. Players don't actually feel like they are making an impact on the world around them and effectively saving the lives of the people of the land. The exclamation marks, are just a means to fill up their experience bar. It is very hard to be engrossed in an RPG
world, when we have such a little amount of 'real' interaction with it.
What will Guild Wars 2, do different?
Guild Wars 2 is massively improving the way that players can enjoy content, by introducing the Dynamic Event system. Basically, the world will change - according to your actions.
For instance, I may be running along a path and in the distance I spot a house on fire. As I get closer, I notice a bunch of bandits pillaging the village. Now, this is where it gets interesting. If I just stand back and watch, the bandits will continue to wreak havoc - causing all the villagers to flee their homes. After a while, the bandits will then make the village an encampment for themselves. Later, they may start to attack the nearby villages too. However, if I chose to fight back and help the villagers - I can kill all the bandits and save the village. The villagers will thank me and the people can be happy once again.
This is just a small example of how the player will have a direct effect on the ever changing world around them. You don't have to stop and read a wall of text to understand what is happening, you can actually see it with your own eyes.
Combat
Combat, in the vast majority of MMORPG's - is boring. It is not dynamic enough and again, players usually follow a set routine of what keys they must press. Combat is rarely engaging to look at, especially from a spectator's point of view. If an enemy fires an arrow at my head and I stand still, I expect to take some serious damage. However, if I was to perform a dodge to the left and move away from the projectiles path - I do not expect it to magically follow me. It gets very repetitive and
predictable and frankly - boring.
What will Guild Wars 2, do different?
The combat is Guild Wars 2, is very dynamic. Players can actually move out the way of projectiles and enemy attacks. If you use that certain skill at the right time, you can actually bring your shield up and block the enemies attack. Combat is real-time and it uses a physics engine.
Visually, the combat is the most impressive I have ever seen in any MMORPG.
Guild Wars 2 will shape the future of the MMORPG genre. With a company as fantastic as Arenanet, creating the game - I can garuntee you, that Guild Wars 2 will be the new 'laws of life'.
I hope you have enjoyed reading this article, as much as I enjoyed writing it. I look forward to experiencing everything that Guild Wars 2 will offer.
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