When something is the second in a series, a sequel, there are certain things that players will look for as improvements over the first. In today's Guild Wars 2 column, we look at some of the bigger improvements that have been made since the original came out. Read on!

I love writing these columns each week. I also love to read the comments that you guys throw up on the site, and one has recently stood out. You see, Guild Wars 2 is Guild Wars TWO, meaning that it’s a sequel. Any article we read, or in my case write, should also really look at it as a second game to a series, and should focus on the improvements it's made over ArenaNet’s first game, not just the genre. It’s time to go ahead and remedy this situation.

Read more of David North's Guild Wars 2: It Is a Sequel.

Two different warriors, two different destinies.

Wouldn't being a different genre make it less of a sequel?  More of a spinoff?  The devs for GW1 have even been quoted as saying GW1 was more of a Co-op Online RPG than an MMORPG and that GW2 is a full fledged MMORPG.

Heck, even when I think about GW2 I don't consider it a sequel to GW1 except in name.  It's just far too different and honestly, what I was hoping GW1 would have been.  But that's another topic for another day.  

Back to my original point, it's like saying World of Warcraft is a sequel to Warcraft 3.  Yet..it's not.  Different genre, different gameplay. 

I think "Sequel" is used wrong here. Sequel usually refers to a continuation of something. Like a story. ArenaNet also has come out and said GW2 is not referred as a sequel as its story/lore is 200 or so years later.

I know what David is saying, but sequel I believe is the wrong term to use.

Elocke brings up a good  point...

"it's like saying World of Warcraft is a sequel to Warcraft 3.  Yet..it's not.  Different genre, different gameplay. "

se·quel/?s?kw?l/

GW 2.0  its what id like to think of it- I NEVER heard of GW until GW2 artwork-videos and videos, so i did backround check on gw1 and tbh I would have never played GW1.

that said - as far as lore = maybe a sequel. as far as game mechanics and design- a whole new spectrum.

Only thing common with GW1 and GW2 is the B2P approach to payment method.

GW2 will be success because it's nothing like GW1 :>

A sequel implies that the first needs to be experienced in order for the second to have context. Playing GW1 is not necessary to playing GW2. Certainly you will get some additional story background if you have played the first but it far from necessary. The original campaigns were a few years apart story wise. over the course of all 3 and the EotN expansion I think some 7 years past storywise. Those are sequels. They choose to move GW2 forward 250 years so that there would be some connection to the original but also be far enough away that a whole new story could be told.  GW2 is a whole new game. The game that they wanted GW to be but it ended up making more sense to start over. GW2 is a successor to GW but to say it is a sequel is a bit like saying that the War in Afganistan is the sequel to the French and Indian War. There is a whole lot that has happened in between the two.

scouter not scooter

well it's a continuation from the guild wars universe storyline so to say, Things that happend in GW1 affect things in guild wars 2. You walk the same grounds as you walk on in GW1 :).

For me it's a sequel. 

Originally posted by GoldenArrow

Only thing common with GW1 and GW2 is the B2P approach to payment method.

GW2 will be success because it's nothing like GW1 :>

With 6 Million combined sales for GW1 I would say it was quite succesful.

Originally posted by gilgamesh42

scouter not scooter

Thank you!

The two games aren't as different as people are trying to make out.  The second game, which is exactly a sequal because it follows the first game in sequence of delivery, use much of the same concepts and design philosophy.

The only thing I sort of disagree with David in the article is that cookie cutter builds are rarely used.  Old cookie cutter builds that have been nerfed or have an easy counter, aren't used as much.  Cookie cutter builds are what people use to farm Halls and GvG.  Although in GvG I think a good balanced team build would usually win over a fotm team build, but that still a lot of guilds farm with fotm builds.

Originally posted by Falcomith

Elocke brings up a good  point...

"it's like saying World of Warcraft is a sequel to Warcraft 3.  Yet..it's not.  Different genre, different gameplay. "

agree

there's been past threads suggesting GW2 could have been named better

but im looking forward to GW2 regardless

Originally posted by Falcomith

I think "Sequel" is used wrong here. Sequel usually refers to a continuation of something. Like a story. ArenaNet also has come out and said GW2 is not referred as a sequel as its story/lore is 200 or so years later.

I know what David is saying, but sequel I believe is the wrong term to use.

Elocke brings up a good  point...

"it's like saying World of Warcraft is a sequel to Warcraft 3.  Yet..it's not.  Different genre, different gameplay. "

 

se·quel

 

Noun:

A published, broadcast, or recorded work that continues the story or develops the theme of an earlier one. Something that takes place after or as a result of an earlier event.

 

 

The theme still has similarities such as the races, the world and a few other things and GW2 takes place 250 years after GW1

That did not want to quote your definition table :(

I don't agree that gw1 and gw2 share the same style in graphics. Gw1 was more realistic while Gw2 is more artistic.

guild Wars 1 had better ui and it's customisation than gW2 so far.

Guild Wars "ends" with GWEN (Eye of the North). During Eye of the North, you are introduced to the storyline and plot, darn near in its entirety, for Guild Wars 2. You even get to see "Bubbles" under the ice in the Norn area. The Guild Wars: Beyond series bridges the gap between GW1 and 2 a bit more closely, but the continuity is still there, hence GW2 being a sequel. Further, you are basically playing descendants (even if not by blood) of the heroes of GW1, and many important NPCs are direct descendants of NPCs from GW1 (Logan as just one example) whose fates and destinies are impacted by their lineage. Heck, even the Sylvari as an entire race, you get to meet one of their fathers in GW1 if you know what to look for (hint: it all started from a soldier, a centaur and a seed).

It is a sequel. By the very definition used to say it isn't, it is. 

"Something that takes place after or as a result of an earlier event."

Everything that happens in GW2 is a result of GW1. Why are we even arguing about this? Stop trying to get cute with definitions >_>

As for the article, the only thing that concerns me is the character customization. So far, between videos and what I've heard from a friend, there are tons of different sliders but they don't really seem to change much going from one extreme to the other. I don't want the wierd looking characters that were running around in Aion, but I would like more control over my character's facial features, especially since some of those pre-made heads are proportioned a bit oddly.

Two Warrors different destinies? Are we sure about that? Are the personal story endings different from person to person?

Originally posted by GoldenArrow

Only thing common with GW1 and GW2 is the B2P approach to payment method.

GW2 will be success because it's nothing like GW1 :>

So GW was not a success,6 million+ unit including expansion is not a success,okay lol.

Originally posted by gaeanprayer

Guild Wars "ends" with GWEN (Eye of the North). During Eye of the North, you are introduced to the storyline and plot, darn near in its entirety, for Guild Wars 2. You even get to see "Bubbles" under the ice in the Norn area. The Guild Wars: Beyond series bridges the gap between GW1 and 2 a bit more closely, but the continuity is still there, hence GW2 being a sequel. Further, you are basically playing descendants (even if not by blood) of the heroes of GW1, and many important NPCs are direct descendants of NPCs from GW1 (Logan as just one example) whose fates and destinies are impacted by their lineage. Heck, even the Sylvari as an entire race, you get to meet one of their fathers in GW1 if you know what to look for (hint: it all started from a soldier, a centaur and a seed).

 

It is a sequel. By the very definition used to say it isn't, it is. 

"Something that takes place after or as a result of an earlier event."

 

Everything that happens in GW2 is a result of GW1. Why are we even arguing about this? Stop trying to get cute with definitions >_>

 

As for the article, the only thing that concerns me is the character customization. So far, between videos and what I've heard from a friend, there are tons of different sliders but they don't really seem to change much going from one extreme to the other. I don't want the wierd looking characters that were running around in Aion, but I would like more control over my character's facial features, especially since some of those pre-made heads are proportioned a bit oddly.

This.