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Guild Wars 2 Previews: Preview Interview
MMORPG.com's Carolyn Koh was at this year's Penny Arcade Expo. While there, she spoke with Mike O'Brien and Daniel Dociu about their upcoming MMORPG, Guild Wars 2.
By Carolyn Koh on September 14, 2009
The first thing Mike O'Brien, ArenaNet Studio Head and Co-founder said to me was, "Guild Wars 2 - Still Free!" when we spoke about Guild Wars 2 at PAX 2009. At this point in game development, there were not a lot of details they could speak of, but instead of giving out signed posters of Guild Wars art this year, they were giving out a beautiful hard-cover art-book of the art of Guild Wars 2. One book per attendee.
ArenaNet is justifiably proud of their game art team and their accomplishments, having won many awards over the years from prestigious juried competitions such as Into the Pixel, Ballistic, Expose and Spectrum Fantastic Art.
"We've got some of the best artists we could find on our team," said Art Director, Daniel Dociu. "They are all incredibly talented. Some are young and others are veterans, but they are all passionate about what they do, and we encourage them and challenge them to test themselves and share their talent by entering these competitions."
Guild Wars 2 is the evolution of the aesthetic values of Guild Wars 1, as the technology is now available to take it to another level. A natural progression of the "Handcrafted Quality," said Daniel.
"Guild Wars 2 is the concept art come to life," he continued, pointing to the trailer playing that was the handiwork of Cinematic Lead, Horia Dociu's team.
Mike O'Brien expounded on the philosophy behind Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2. "We focused on the story telling in Guild Wars and are evolving all that people loved about it into Guild Wars 2."
Guild Wars was a mould breaker. There were great debates over whether it really could be considered an MMO being that only the town areas had persistence and all the adventure / quest areas were instanced. The main difference in Guild Wars 2 is that it will all be a single, persistent world.
;)
"We will still use instancing for some quests and raids - especially in the high-end adventuring, but instead of just having only one area where players can congregate, you will be able to run across each other across the world," said Mike.
The focus again is on story telling and Game Designer Jeff Grubb was on hand to expand on the story. Guild Wars 2 is set about 250 years after the original timeline and we've seen some new races introduced since launch, and some of them will be playable in Guild Wars 2.
"Humans have not weathered well and other races have evolved to fill niches," said Jeff, letting us know that four non-human races will be playable.
- The Charr - the large beast-like creatures of the feline variety, conquerors of Ascalon will be playable.
- The Norn - introduced in Eye of the North, the half-giant shape shifters have been driven down from the north by the wakening of Drogus the Ice Dragon and settled in the Shiver Peaks
- The Asura - a short, smart magical race that used to inhabit only the underground tunnels and caverns beneath Tyria have ascended to the surface, driven there by the dragon Primodus. They believe in eternal alchemy, command golems as their pets and live in fantastic floating buildings.
- The Sylvari are the youngest race, having only evolved in the last 25 years. They were a plant race discovered in the Eye of the North and are born fully formed from the fruit of the great tree, sharing the memories of a dream. They are a response to the threat of the dragons.
I was beginning to get a clue by then and Jeff was pleased to elaborate. "Yes, the greatest, most powerful of dragons has risen. To give you a clue as to how powerful he is, the Dragon Xytan lives in the City of the Gods. He raised the drowned city from the depths of the ocean and has raised the dead again as his undead minions." That is the overarching storyline of Guild Wars 2, the war against the dragons. The more powerful Elder Dragons have arisen and new Heroes are needed to combat them.
That the team is excited about Guild Wars 2 was obvious, the passion almost palpable as they all spoke about their plans. "Guild Wars grew to have 10 professions and over 1,300 skills and these things happen. Games evolve and grow. In Guild Wars 2, we will be focusing on the quality of skills and a way to make these skills deeper," said Mike.
"It will be a full 3-D game," said Horia. "There will be underwater dungeons and you will be able to swim underwater."
ArenaNet will be taking the core of what's fun in Guild Wars and enhancing it for Guild Wars 2, putting in more "Joy of the Moment" content for players.
"There will be much more growth of the player character," said Jeff. "Starting areas are different and separate. Players will be playing with others of their own race before they move out into the world and meet players of other races."
;)
"We've spent two years re-writing from the ground up," said Mike. "We've rebuilt and enhanced our game engine. We have a radically enhanced graphics engine, day/night cycles, new physics, animation and movement through the world."
They are also planning a "Side-kick" system to allow players the freedom to play together, and the in the organized PvP arena, players will be able to engage in balanced PvP without first having to level up and gear up. In those arenas, the players will be the same power level and will have access to the same equipment, so player skills will be the telling factor.
Content is also being designed so that it scales, and players will be able to solo if they prefer although end-game raids will still require many players banding together. Finally, the question every developer is asked when a new version of a game is being designed was also answered. No, it's a new game. Your old Guild Wars character cannot be transferred over. However, players will be able to reserve their original Guild Wars name in Guild Wars 2. Details are not yet available, but The Hall of Monuments in Guild Wars 2 will recognize the achievements commemorated in original Guild Wars and provides unique rewards to showcase those accomplishments.
This game sounds awesome. This tidbit caught my eye:
"The main difference in Guild Wars 2 is that it will all be a single, persistent world."
This gives me the hint that they are attempting to make single server ala Guild Wars, but add persistence to it? If this is so, this sounds amazing and I can't wait to see it.
Can't wait for this one.
That just means its like your standard MMO (wow/ etc) where the world is open and not made up of private instances like Guild wars is now. Im sure it will have more than one server or might just have shards. Only game i know that has one server is eve online.
That just means its like your standard MMO (wow/ etc) where the world is open and not made up of private instances like Guild wars is now. Im sure it will have more than one server or might just have shards. Only game i know that has one server is eve online.
Well, it was the "single" part that gave me this impression. Having a single "shard" in Guild Wars one was a great feature, and they said they are keeping everything that is great about it. I really hope they try and keep only having one shard, and I hope they can pull it off.
Right. To me this is a deal breaker. The only reason I tried GW was because of instanced content. Since that's gone in GW2, I won't even bother with that game.
Peace.
As long as the game is as solo-friendly as the original GW (i.e., with lots of "grouping-optional content"), I think the addition of persistence is just fine and enhances the game. The deal-breaker for me is if they restrict the instanced portions of GW2 to player groups only. THAT will be a deal-breaker for me. From what I have read about GW2, however, they are *not* planning to do this.
I am greatly looking forward to GW2, although I am really going to miss the AI/Hero component of the original game. :(
This article is amazing. I can't wait for the game to come.
I like how they plan to have separate starting areas depending on the race and the single persistent world is a nice addition.
That just means its like your standard MMO (wow/ etc) where the world is open and not made up of private instances like Guild wars is now. Im sure it will have more than one server or might just have shards. Only game i know that has one server is eve online.
I means actually a lot more. The game will have servers, which will compete against eachothers in PvP like the regions did in the first game. But the persistant thing means that there will be things that your character does that changes the gameworld.
Mobs will not just spawn like in other games, they will spawn from logical points and walk to where they are supposed to be. An Ogre will spawn from a hut in the ogre village and so on.
And I am glad that Jeff Grub still is the boss for the lore, I always liked his Forgotten realms books better than Salvatores and I loved the characters in Nightfall he made.
This is the number one game I am waiting for and I have been waiting a long time. I can't see how P2P games can compete with this. All other games stating that they are free actually cost more to play if you want to be good than a P2P game, and and not as good. Here is a great game without monthly fees and with graphics, programing, art and story that most P2P games can only dream about :D
If this game becomes the next big game I think that the P2P bussines model will get problems. Why pay $15 bucks for month when you get a game at least as good without the monthly fees?
This game went from "meh" to me to "HOLY COW! WANT TO PLAY NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" in as little as 3 days. The faster we get to play this, the better for my sanity.
no new information ¬¬
You are supposed to be able to make a hero or pet and design like your character. There is supposed to be a balancing system for it, you don't have to have a pet or hero and you should be as good with or without them. And I am sure you will get one or more npcs with you for certain quests.
So while you only get one hero or a pet you can design those by yourself (that is at least what Jeff said in a forum even if it was 2 years ago).
I am sure that the game will offer at least as many fun NPCs as the first game, and in many missions there you get specific npc with you for a limited time also. So I wouldn't worry too much about the lack of the old hero system.
I am not sure if henchmens are in or if they use the same scaling as Biowares old "Neverwinter nights" did instead. The interview do make it sounds like it is the second thing but it is hard to be sure without asking Mike it directly.
I too think this, what i read about gw2 so far is awsome and it seems to be able to offer the same if not more features then any p2p games out there.
if gw2 is going to be what i think its going to be no company can realy justify a monthly fee anymore
Right. To me this is a deal breaker. The only reason I tried GW was because of instanced content. Since that's gone in GW2, I won't even bother with that game.
Peace.
The article did NOT say it is gone. It said quite the opposite.
Right. To me this is a deal breaker. The only reason I tried GW was because of instanced content. Since that's gone in GW2, I won't even bother with that game.
Peace.
You shouldn't even visit this site for that saying.
Peace!
I love this game i will love it as i did with Guildwars 1 And Really this deserves a facepalm he Spelled "Zhaitan" Wrong he spelled Zytan.
Great read! it is going to be an awesome game.
Carolyn, are you sure Drogus is the name of the Ice Dragon? Jeff Grubb is clearly heard calling the Ice Dragon "Jormag" in a video interview during GamesCon with mmorpgitalia. Link is here, about 1:11 in. In fact, four of the five elder dragons names are known, and none of those four are Drogus. So, perhaps Drogus is the last dragon, the Sea Dragon?
That, and getting Zhaitan wrong, kinda detracts from the article.
From the GW2 FAQ:
Servers/Worlds
Are there going to be different servers?
Yes, however you will be able to move characters between different shards/worlds quickly, easily, and without restriction, possibly similar to switching districts in Guild Wars outposts.
-and-
"World PvP" will involve large, ongoing battles in the Mists between players from up to three different shards, with persistence.
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Guild_Wars_2/FAQ
I don't understand how they plan to accomplish the full mmorpg experience without having a p2p model. To be honest, this sounds too good to be true. P2P models are necessary in mmorpgs in order to continually have people working to fix all the bugs and do all the continuous balancing required in mmorpg worlds. I'm very curious to see what will turn out for the open world gameplay in GW2.
From the GW2 FAQ:
Servers/Worlds
Are there going to be different servers?
Yes, however you will be able to move characters between different shards/worlds quickly, easily, and without restriction, possibly similar to switching districts in Guild Wars outposts.
-and-
"World PvP" will involve large, ongoing battles in the Mists between players from up to three different shards, with persistence.
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Guild_Wars_2/FAQ
sounds like Champions Online to me
there are "instances" of each zone but no "realm" and you can switch "instances" on the fly. So everyone is on the same "server" just different instances.
ever play Guild Wars 1?
it was FTP with a store. I image it will be the same but more "store" though i get the impression you wotn buy "uber gear" i could see buying optional companions, character slots, renames, and other cosmetics.
One of the challenges of interviewing on the convention floor is how easy it is to mis-speak / mis-hear / miss on the taking of notes and mythological Names are the toughest. I do what fact checks I can from official sites / information and will say this. "Sorry - My bad."
The post amused me. Who cares if it is a persistent world, everything is instanced except the lobby therefore making the word persistent meaningless.
Hearing the word "raids" and "end-game" in the same phrase makes me doubt a bit in how GW2 can keep the "mold breaking" aspect and take it to the next level, but it's still too soon to know anything solid about the game besides the things they've been repeating since they announced GW2 development.
This quote sounds exactly like something that was said very early in GW's quite often. I believe they proved themselves far above expectations that this was untrue for that. ANet is not only able to create a wonderful game, they are also able to maintain the game very well. While GW was the focus of development they always performed regular maintainance, patches, skill balancing, etc. while still staying on schedule with their new campaigns. Something was broke, they fixed it... and, without interruption to gameplay. I remember all this while I've been paying another company monthly for nearly 1 1/2 years... In this p2p game where I'm "suppose to be" seeing better, quicker and more frequent updates and patches, it is the exact opposite. It takes months for them to accomplish anything. Now, I realize not all companies handle things this poorly, it has proven to me that ANet's business model works wonderfully with them at the wheel.
I'm intrigued with their PvP arena, where gear will become obsolete. Instead, the kills will go to a skilled player.
Huh??
I wonder if we can jump in GW2. I have ADD so I cant help but jump around everywhere so if I cant jump then the game is no bueno for me :(
You can jump in GW2 yes
BEST GAME EVER!! Simple as that :)
I understand completely. Since I am in between MMO's and have been for the past year and a half, I figure I will fire up my old GW account and work on Hall of Monuments achievements for GW2. It was either this, or go back to Lotro and kill some time until a decent game comes out, but why go play something else when I can at least work toward potential awards in GW2?
Guild Wars is a huge paradox for me. Some of you know me as one of the most outspoken people on this website when it comes to hating theme-park games and anything to do with instanced zones. I want open ended, open world games. I argue about it all the time.
However, Guild Wars, to me, is just magic. Even with its age and having instanced areas, henchmen, etc. I love it. Seriously, I consider those types of features to be the bane of MMO evolution, but in GW it works fantastic. If anyone ever asks me what F2P game they should consider, I always say Guild Wars.
Having said all that, and behaving more true to form, I am glad to see GW2 evolving beyond the old limitations, and I am very excited to see this new world. Some of the in-game areas shown in the trailer are simply breath taking. Their art team is insane, and if they can hold on to the vision of making GW2 look like concept art, my head will explode with ecstasy. These guys know how to make a fun game and they know how to maintain it. If GW wasn't fun and relied just on it's feature list, it would have been dead a long time ago. It still has a decent population, all things considered.
It will be interesting to see if they can maintain the tradition of celebrating holidays in GW2. In most games I found this to be cheesy, but the way they did it in GW was simply a blast. Who didn't look forward to snowball PvP for Christmas time??
I would like to add that crafting is pretty weak in Guild Wars. I would like to see them take it up several notches.
In other interviews Anet has mentioned player crafting for GW2.
GW1 crafting may not have been stellar or complex (basically material salvaging and find an NPC crafter), but it works for the equipment system they have. Its not like some broken, stuck on after thought like many games.
I too am hoping for a more immersive crafting experience, as well as some hobbies like fishing that have real game usefulness.
That said, I am really looking forward ot this game!
Well, I hope it doesn't really have crafting. Part of what sets GW apart from MMORPGs, is a lack of time sinks, like grinding for gear. And that includes craft grinding. GW concentrates more on the fun stuff, questing and missions and the like.
wtf is up with the interview
they didnt even talk about one of the most ground-breaking features:
dropping the quest system and adding an event system
>.<
things i like about gw2 incluce the lore, the playable races, and the art style
One man's time sink is another man's game play. Try to remember that not everyone games the same way you do. I consider crafting and other non-combat game play to be incredible fun. Sometimes I do battle, sometimes I just disappear into the world as a regular person. I don't need to be a hero.
That's a really silly reason. Personally I can't wait. It's still going to be Guild Wars after all.
Anyway, no one will miss you. Peace.
Honestly, the more I hear about Guild Wars 2, the more excited I get. I love love love Guild Wars to bits, and I'll definitely be more than looking forward to the sequel. I'm quite interested though, to find out what they mean by events, and to see how it is carried out in the game.
One thing for sure though, if there is one thing Guild Wars is good for, it is the storyline and the characters we end up coming across. Seriously, it's the first MMO I've ever played that actually gave me the urge to write fanfiction. I really want to see that wonderful tradition continued in Guild Wars 2. It's probably the most important component to me when it comes to Guild Wars 2 development.
I didn't get into GW because it just seemed like Diablo with a 3D waiting room. Now that they're proposing to take a more conventional approach towards world hosting, I'm definitely more interested. To me, one of the coolest things about MMORPG's is meeting other players in the context of a battle or adventure. Not having that really made GW feel lame.
I agree and this is ultimately what made me stop playing GW. The gameplay was great for the time, and it was a unique game. It just felt too lonely most of the time, and that killed it for me. For now though, I have nothing better to play, so I'm going to slowly work on some Hall of Monuments achievements for the rewards in GW 2.
What I've seen in GW2 promo, it's amazing. I havn't seen such a breath taking in game graphics in any MMO. Beside many feature the persistent world will make the game playing experience more fun. So far what came out is just awesome, all the races and and their ability/attributes (which I've guessed 'course watching the promo) etc. I'm really very excited to know more 'bout this game. Hope we'll get it in our hand fast enough. Ohh... I missed the extra cheese, F2P :-)