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Guild Wars 2 Interviews: Exclusive Interview
MMORPG.com's Garrett Fuller gets the ArenaNet team to spill the beans on Guild Wars 2's combat system, technology, social activities, and more in this exclusive interview.
By Garrett Fuller on April 28, 2010
| MMORPG.com: | Give an example of one traditional MMORPG element that you felt needed to be changed when developing Guild Wars 2. |
| Eric Flannum - Lead Designer: | One of the most obvious things we wanted to change was the visceral impact of combat. We want our combat to feel like it has a lot of impact. We aren’t making a twitch action game but that doesn’t mean that combat has to be unexciting. We’ve worked very hard to make all of our skills have a real sense of impact when they land. |
| MMORPG.com: | Looking at the game as a player, what is your favorite aspect of Guild Wars 2? |
| Daniel Jennings - Programmer: | That projectiles, even though they are conceptually simple, ?have so many cool behaviors. For example, an arrow shot from a bow doesn’t just go from you to your enemy and disappear; instead it can be reflected, set on fire, bounce between several enemies, or return to you after hitting a target, healing you when it hits. |
| Braeden Shosa - Programmer: | I’m a little biased because I wrote it, but one of my favorite aspects of GW2 is its new animation system. Our animation technology was rebuilt from the ground up to support GW2’s ambitious, action-oriented combat across a multitude of player and creature rigs. Among many other improvements, the new system features transition animations for the smooth animation quality gamers expect, independent upper and lower body animation tracks for running n’ gunning, and looping animations for hold skills. The new animation system helps us achieve our goals of uniquely identifiable skills, joy of movement, and visceral combat with deep but accessible mechanics. |
| Jon Peters - Game Designer: | Content actually made for a persistent multiplayer world. When I see another player in Guild Wars 2, no matter in PvE or PvP, my reaction is, “Awesome, another person. How can we help each other!” |
| Isaiah Cartwright - Game Designer: | Finding something new. It’s amazing when I turn a corner or walk over a hill and run into something not just visually impressive but something I’ve never seen before. There are so many amazing, beautiful, jaw dropping things going on in Guild Wars 2 it often leaves me stunned thinking are we really doing that? |
| MMORPG.com: | You have a large number of races in the game, how will they work together? |
| Eric Flannum - Lead Designer: | In our lore none of the five races are at open war with each other but none of them are close allies either. The exception to this is the City of Lion’s Arch which is an independent city state that welcomes all races equally. In Lion’s Arch you can see charr technology working hand in hand with asura magic and the resulting teamwork has turned Lion’s Arch into the preeminent mercantile power in the world. When it comes to gameplay all of the races bring something unique to the table. We use racial skills to give each race its own flavor and also to bring players a wider breadth of options to consider when building their character. An asura player will always have a way to blast enemies with magic while a Sylvari player can always choose to heal their allies. |
| MMORPG.com: | In the Blog you mentioned non-combat activities for Guild Wars 2. Can you give an example of how these will impact players? |
| Eric Flannum - Lead Designer: | One of the major things we are doing is bringing back many of the activities that players loved from the first game. For example we had a lot of mini games like snowball arena, rollerbeetle racing, and nine rings. These were all activities that players could engage in no matter their level. In most MMOs players will pick certain cities and use those cities as social hubs. We recognize that this is the case and have decided to populate the major cities in the game with mini games similar to those found in Guild Wars. We call these games “activities” and they encompass everything from a bar brawl to a shooting gallery. It’s important for us to treat our major cities as social hubs where players of all levels can gather and have fun. |
| MMORPG.com: | You talk about making MMOs more social, is there a plan in place with Guild Wars 2 to give social rewards to players? |
| Eric Flannum - Lead Designer: | The structure of Guild Wars 2 allows us to make the game a much more social experience. Shared goals, more generous rules for loot and XP sharing, and scaling content mean that it is very easy to play with other players. Because of this social interaction in Guild Wars 2 happens more naturally without enforced grouping mechanics. We also believe in providing a strong social network for players and rewarding and encouraging players to form friendships in the game. We will be talking about exactly how we intend to do that sometime in the future. |
| MMORPG.com: | What is the biggest lesson you learned from Guild Wars that you are bringing to the sequel? |
| Daniel Jennings - Programmer: | Because changing builds/skillbars in Guild Wars is so easy, players have been able to come up with some pretty crazy skill combinations that we hadn’t really thought of. The problem with these combinations, though, is that the main result is a stack of enchantments and slightly higher damage numbers coming from skills. With Guild Wars 2, we’re trying to not only make it easier to discover these cooperative skill mechanics, but also visually show you what’s going on. The canonical example of this is a player firing an arrow through a fire wall; the arrow catches fire and burns its target when it hits. It’s a mechanic that makes the game cooler, but also rewards players for trying different skill combinations together in a way that makes sense. |
| Braeden Shosa - Programmer: | I think the biggest lesson I learned from Guild Wars is that a ?robust social platform is tantamount to our success and our players’ enjoyment of our games. Gamers socialize today in entirely new ways, and modern games should recognize that friendships persist even after players logs off. We recognize this at ArenaNet, and I’m proud to ?be building GW2 from the ground up to be the ultimate social gaming experience. |
| Jon Peters - Game Designer: | Skills should be simpler. Simpler skills are like building blocks instead of puzzle pieces. It is a lot easier to build something with blocks and you can make a lot more varied and unexpected stuff. |
| Isaiah Cartwright - Game Designer: | PvE and PvP take different things to make them awesome. We tried to smash them together at first in Guild Wars and it really made things hard for us. In Guild Wars 2 we’ve set up a frame work that will make things a lot easier for us this time around and I think both areas of the game are greatly improved as a result. |
| MMORPG.com: | You said the players will have a lot of choices. It has been a trend lately to give consequences to these choices. Will you have a similar system? |
| Eric Flannum – Lead Designer: | Player choices will definitely have consequences. We tell a very personal story for players and consequences in that story will have a lot of repercussions on the content that a player will experience. For example you may need to get information from a villain. Do you break into his house while he’s away or attend a party with him and try to use diplomacy and espionage to get the information from him? Players will be presented with a number of meaningful choices over the course of their story. |
| MMORPG.com: | Can you give a deeper explanation on how Guild Wars 2 will have a persistent world? Will it be more than just a social meeting room? |
| Eric Flannum – Lead Designer: | Guild Wars 2 is a fully persistent world. What we mean by that is that you will be in the world with other players and that anything those players do to impact the world will change things for everyone. If a group of players wipes out a bandit camp then that bandit camp is gone (until the bandits rebuild it of course), if a town is overrun by centaurs then the services in that town are gone until players can win it back and rebuild it. We do have instancing of course which we use both for dungeons and in helping to tell a character’s personal story. |
| MMORPG.com: | How is the schedule on the project going? Do you see a beta by the end of 2010? |
| Eric Flannum – Lead Designer: | The project’s going really well thanks for asking! J In all seriousness we’ll be releasing beta info when we get closer to the date. As you can tell, it’s a very ambitious game and it’s important for us that the game is executed at the highest level possible rather than rushing to beta before we’re ready. |
Also check out our breakdown of the newly revealed Elementalist profession and combat mechanics here.
the game SOUNDS amazing, however i have been burnt way too many times by game developers telling me what i want to hear.
Sounds good!
Though I'd like to see some more ingame footage on GW2 soon.
Are five new videos enough new footage for you? ;)
"We do have instancing of course which we use both for dungeons and in helping to tell a character’s personal story."
Is it a seamless world? Can I run from one side of the map to the other without hitting a portal? Do they have "copies" of the world? ie: You are and your friend are in Zone A, bit he is in copy 1 and you are in copy 15,345.
holy crap thats very impressive.
the more i read about GW2 the more i like, wtb info on their archer class!
Those were certainly very cool, though I'd like some footage that shows a couple of situations where they're busy playing the game like they normally would as well.
It can wait though.
It's easy to be deceived nowdays with developer promises of features in their games, but i don't think that's the case with Anet judging by the GW releases.
Like Mike O'Brien said :
"...We’re a company of passionate gamers with one mission: to make Guild Wars 2 the best MMORPG ever created. We are a 150+ person development team and we’re betting our company on Guild Wars 2."
If you played the previous GW games you'd know they are really passionate about what they do and know what make players tick ;)
The videos look great, very smooth animations, good skill mechanics and nice eye candy - keep them coming :D
OMG!
I'm glad i have finally got to see some video clips although the Water Trident video goes back to Phoenix though. Either way, i'm impressed can't wait for Guild Wars 2.
You may be able to wait, but I don't want to have to wait. I have been waiting for years already. I guess this beggs the question "How does it feel to want?" to be asked.
Here is the link to the Water Trident video: http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/473/view/videos/play/1698/Elementalist-Water-Trident-Spell.html
Both Guildwars 2 and Heroes of Telara have me rather excited. Its really great to finally see mmos moving forward with dynamic content as mmos have remained stagnant for far too long. Finally I might find myself liking and playing mmos again. I just hope they live up to their promises.
Oh and those Guildwars video clips are very impressive indeed.
Fixed the Water Trident link, thanks!
Guild Wars was my first true love in the MMORPG world and I will highly consider preordering this game. Haven't found a decent MMO since this and since I quit WoW nearly two years ago. WAR and Aion just didn't do it for me.
Please ANet - DON'T release GW2 before it's ready...
Don't worry.. they definitely will NOT release it before it is ready. Look forward to more changes as the months come. Tomorrow: Weapons, Professions and Races **In the combat tab for "The Game"**
=] =] =]
Very nice! Guild Wars 2 is one of the games I'm really looking forward too. Even more so now, after reading the interview and watching those videos. Pretty cool looking stuff.
Man, I totally can't wait for this game :D
so... its still auto aim... no missed fireballs or arrows flying everywhere... fuckin gay
GW's always been auto aim, but anything classified as a projectile would fly in a more or less physically-based arc. You already could move to dodge arrows and fireballs unless they were fired at very close range, so I don't understand the complaint.
OT: I like the new way they're doing skillbars. As much fun as it was to make screwy builds with no main-class skills, giving characters at least some definition of a role based on their class and weapon choice seems like a good direction to take things.
Go play Counter-Strike, shoo.
You couldn't aim in GW bot you could dodge arrows and fireballs..
Troll.
Im interested to know, and please point me in the right direction if its been talked about, if Guild Wars 2 will be incredibley empty as far as other players go. In other words... am I only going to see other players at towns and never in the field of battle unless I add them to my party? Or will I see others running about, doing their quests and killing mobs as I run past?
Instanced will be dungeons and story missions the rest is open world.
They went a different course for GW2 than they did for GW: GW2 will not be heavily instanced anymore but an open world MMO.
This means you see others running around and questing, even more, there are public quests or 'world quests' where together with other players that don't have to be in a group with you, you can do those quests together and still share the loot, like for example defending a village from it being overrun or winning the village back again.
I see. Im not a huge fan of instancing, but if its not overused then I guess I dont mind. Thanks for the reply.
Ah ha. Now I didnt see this post before I replied to the other persons. This makes me feel a lot better and makes me more excited about Guild Wars 2. Thanks for that info.
Also... is there an article where this is stated? I suppose I could just to go to the website and look... lol.
You're in luck, it's on this very same site, look here ;-)
The question is raised:
Can you give a deeper explanation on how Guild Wars 2 will have a persistent world? Will it be more than just a social meeting room?
To which this is answered:
Guild Wars 2 is a fully persistent world. What we mean by that is that you will be in the world with other players and that anything those players do to impact the world will change things for everyone. If a group of players wipes out a bandit camp then that bandit camp is gone (until the bandits rebuild it of course), if a town is overrun by centaurs then the services in that town are gone until players can win it back and rebuild it.
This will be epic if it playes out like they are stating in the arcticle. I haven't been this excited since.. well.. the first year of playing Guild Wars.
LOL! I read this article to... how on earth did I miss this????
Geez I feel stupid. Thank you for providing the info though. Im just going to go over here now.....
I enjoyed GW when it was released, and over the years their (non)pricing model has allowed me to continue to enjoy it off and on. I regret not having an active guild now, I'd love to start a fresh toon this summer and play through all the scenarios again.
GW2 is one of the few things I've been looking forward to for a long, long time. I think they'd have to go out of their way to really screw it up. And coming off years of running a successful game, I'm sure they've learned a lot more lessons than they're letting on both gameplay-wise and technically.
May actually (gasp) pre-order, which is one of those things I just DON'T DO anymore... as so many above have said, too many burns.
I just wait and see how the game turns out at retail release. So many games are hyped to be the game to play and turn out very disappointing.
There will be a sick infestation of Asian gold farming rings in GW2 like you have never seen before in any other MMO. All the botting, chat spam, /tell spam, account phishing and so on that they do will be 100 fold. What will they do to stop it??? NOTHING, you can't stop them. This will be a major downer for me and so many others. It's 2010, you would think MMO developers would have come up with a way to stop them.
i hope this game bring a fresh, exciting take on fantasy pvp, and ends annoying games like WoW an Aion. looks better than Tera even.
If the overall gameplay is going to be as good as these examples of spell casting than this is going to be one hell of a fun ride.
The combat in this game is going to blow everything else out of the water.
I think this is it, the game I been waiting for so long. The more I see of it the better and I am glad that Arenanet is the company that actually wait until a game is finished before they releases it.
There are other upcoming games that are interesting (particularly World of darkness online) but the more I see of this the better it seems.
I'm really glad they've addressed and learned from some key speed bumps in Guild Wars - gimmicky builds, the puzzle pieces of skills/attributes, etc. That is very encouraging. I love the game and have been playing since launch.
The only disappointing revelation is the 10 slot skill bar. I was really hoping the limited skill bar would go away and a more innovative system, or even a more traditional skillbar would replace it. If the 10 slot bar ends up being limiting like the 8 slot bar currently is then it will be a real deal breaker for me.
As always the art is truly amazing and the combat sequence with the Elementalist made me smile and maybe even a little bit of jaw dropping. I loved the voice over, "And down you go!" The people at Arena Net do some really amazing stuff.
Awesome,I didn't expect less from Anet and I guess we will know more about the game mechanics in the coming weeks.Looks like 2011 will be a very good year for MMO players as we will have lot of choices and if for once all these companies don`t rush their games out,it will be very difficult to pick one.
But Arena Net has the advantage,because their game doesn't have a subscription fee.
I am positively squirming in my seat for this game. I want it to be well and thoroughly finished before they release it, but Anet is a company built by the best Blizzard ever had. They are brilliant, they love gaming, and they are unafraid of taking risks. If anyone is going to "shake up" this genre, it will be these people.
"Guild Wars 2 is a fully persistent world. What we mean by that is that you will be in the world with other players and that anything those players do to impact the world will change things for everyone. If a group of players wipes out a bandit camp then that bandit camp is gone (until the bandits rebuild it of course), if a town is overrun by centaurs then the services in that town are gone until players can win it back and rebuild it.
We do have instancing of course which we use both for dungeons and in helping to tell a character’s personal story."
Still going to wait till 6 months after launch as always, but looking good.
nice interview, good videos. I'll probably pre-order, they haven't let me down yet.
Considering the original GWs launch you can probably just check these forums after bug whine, the original game had almost no issues whatsoever.
These guys are perfectionists. But it never hurts to be careful of course.
I will pre-order it myself.
yes it means exactly that. Strain posted on a forum a few years ago that he had solved the zooning in another and a better way than he did for Wow (he was Wow lead programmer at the start before Kaplan).
GW will have instanced dungeons and similar things, and some instances for the story. The rest will be open and very different from current game with the dynamic world system. Mythic actually planned something similar for WAR but cut it out with most of the other good stuff.
This is actually my main concern upon the release of GW2.
I'm positive that Anet will deliver another great game but the thought of having legions of botters/hackers/spammers ruining the game experience like it happens in many of todays MMO's makes me think twice - will the next generation of MMO games be able to prevent or counter these old issues more efficiently ?...
The reason you couldn't jump in GW is because making the game in full 3D would take a lot more resources, same as with instancing. GW is made with a very low budget in a rather quick time and to be played on a very simple computer. It is not as he could have stolen the wow engine when he quited (and the Wow engine just had the crude basics then, this was 4 years before it released.
But how you make that prove he didn't make the basic system to Wow seems a bit odd. He was BTW also the lead designer on Warcraft 3 (which of course proves nothing either except that he is good). He also programmed the original battle.net.
the current thing on GW1 to stop hackers is they also have to know your character name in order to hack your account. Spammers and botters on the other hand are a different beast entirely, in GW you can't continuosly comment over and over again you have to wait a few seconds after you've commented or it is considered spamming also in GW characters cannot tranfer more than a certain amount of gold (there's a cap on the amount of gold you can send) to one another or else you're considered a gold farmer.
The only problem is botters/syncers they are gonna be crazy and I have no idea how they control those.
If any of you where there at the Launch of GW 1 it was a really smooth launch as far as online games goes. As far as gold spammers and bots. Spammers were really never a problem in GW 1 but the bots were time to time. But i must say they worked hard to stay ahead of them as you would see them in area's running out of towns and after a few days they would be gone. These guys really know how to do it right as far as i can see. Looking forward to 5 more years of GW 2
As far i can remember, GW offers both keyboard and mouse movement options.
As for the design and technical issues being it's weakness i beg to differ. Choices had to be made in order to present the quality of content and gameplay the game has, making it an accessible title to lower range machines. If choices wouldn't be made and they decided to try a persistent full axis game, something would have to be sacrifficed and more development time required making it a late release. Not saying it couldn't be improved back then but GW is Anet's first comercial game and an acclaimed title regardless of it's "weaknesses".
You say GW2 is too late and present day MMO's are all about playing NOW with rich choices of PvP - PvE - Crafting. Either i've been living under a rock or you are slightly delusional. Apart from very few titles, most of today's MMO's are poor when it comes to PvE and PvP content, relying on endless grind with limited gameplay. Even today, GW stands out because of it's story telling quality, polished and varied game content, diverse character playability and balanced competitive gameplay, all using the B2P method instead of the more common P2P and F2P practiced nowdays.
GW2 was announced on March 2007 and GW's expansion (Eye of the North) was released later that year. To me it doesn't seem like an awfull delay since most games don't release shortly after they are announced. The fact they are taking time with the game, only reassures me about their commitment with their game and the players, making sure they wiil release a worthwhile title. It's not like Anet has a bad released game record, now is it ?
This is ofcourse, my view of things and i could be wrong :)
3 years late? lol gw1 is just 5 years old. if that is the case they started gw2 before they even finished gw1
rest of the your post is rubbish too btw
memoir44
your post proves that "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing"
although nicely written, your statements are full of fallacies and distorted facts
i loled when you stated that GW is not a MMORPG because it didnt have an auction house
btw, ANET always insisted that GW1 is a CCORPG, while GW2 will be an MMORPG, hopefully with an auction house or it will not be a full-fledged one, according to your standards. >_>
and as stated by another, how can GW2 be 3 year late when they only made the official announcement of developing GW2 in Q1 2007?
Or as 3rd option, they've taken the extra time to implement things as they envisioned and it works as they say it does.
Delays are nothing new, isn't the oh so wonderful Blizzard not a master in endless delaying themselves? Just an example, there are very few game companies who really make their initial deadline with a game just as they'd planned it to be.
Look, I don't care if you're in complete love with WoW or really dislike Guild Wars, fact is that they delivered a smooth fun MMO (call it CORPG, MMORPG, whatever!) that was much more innovative in a number of ways than the majority of other MMO's. And it worked. Besides that, they've shown they put lots of heart and effort in their product, with the regular fun events they keep hosting in a frequency not a lot of the other MMO companies can keep up with.
Also, they've shown that they have the ability to keep up with their words, that it's not just fluff: ultimately, neither you nor I or any other can say how much GW2 will fullfill its potential, it's all just guess work, my arguments against yours. And I don't care to 'win', if you're convinced that GW2 will fail? *shrug* suit yourself.
But GW2 already being outdated? Lol... have you read the reactions and responses? People are loving it, and If ArenaNet can back up their words and intended implementations, there'll be hordes that will go for it. Maybe not the fanbois of WoW or other MMO's, but let those play their MMO to their liking.
Me, I'm gonna have fun in a new, innovative one. I'll be roaming around in the world of GW2.
edit:
2 other points about your post:
- Everquest had no auction house and is as much a MMO as any other (yes, there were MMORPG's before WoW)
- Your argumentation is warped, either Jeff Strain isn't a talented lead designer and genius so his positive effect on GW and GW2 is nonexistent and a fable, or the talented Jeff Strain disagreed with the design philosophy and left so his positive influence cant help GW2. You can't have that argument both ways.
And those are facts: a smooth launch and little hinder of gold spammers or bots, especially compared to how it is in other MMO's. Next to that, it had some of the smoothest and most polished gameplay I've experienced with all the MMO's I've played, even if it may be that people didn't like the invisible walls or not being able to jump.
The only way to delete the gold spammers and such is to go where they live and kill them in real life or put them in prison.
It would be cheaper to get rid of the gold buyers. You don't have to travel then. ;)
One big difference is that they aren't simply post-wow copy-cat money grubbers, unless they'ved changed. I tried guild wars beta before wow was released and I liked the way it looked and played yet I was so excited about wow coming up, doing our guild website and research, that I soon dropped it. Yeah that's how messed up wow was--addicting even before it came out. But I remember GW as a clean experience. This new stuff looks really impressive. I'm inclined to "hope" it's not another fail and might even persuade me to spend some hours.
I've been excited about GW2 for a couple of years now and look forward to it improving the little niggles I had with GW (mainly the zones, and the complicated skill system). Here's hoping it will provide the fix a lot of us currently dissatisfied players are longing for ^^
Well, I think they may have gone into it further today or not, but they are going for more innovative.
You technically lose your second job-class, but you gain access to other players with their own abilities (full-powered).
So while in Guild Wars 1 you had to be a Warrior/Elementalist just to smack stuff with a hammer, then blast em, and have the elementalist or warrior sub weakened for it, you have two players at full power. An example was if an Elementalist sets up a Static field, a warrior (or archer if they are in), can fire their gun/bow, and when the shot passes through the field, it gains electrical damage. Abilities are being made to work in tandem with teamwork, not just your skillbar.
I feel that the limited skill slots makes the game more strategic and unique. Out of all the mmo's I've played, I've rarely every used 10 skills or more consistently. Most mmo's now have classes that use maybe 3-6 skills/spells on a regular basis. Just try it out. I think you'll find that having 10 skills is not as limiting as you think.
If you play it and still find you need more than 10, feel free to switch up skills to find a good combo or stick with GW 1. Each gamer has their own preferences. To each their own.
The important thing is to have fun. I'm definitely going to buy this game. It's got me very excited!
Looks like I will be definitely buying GW2 then.
You can use keyboard movement in GW so I assume you can in GW2
The only reason I wasn't interested in GW1 was because of the instanced way it works, now they are making a true MMO with a persistant world this could be a really great game. I really hope they pull it off.
Usually NCsoft is very hollow on the content side of features in their mmo's but GW so far for some reason usually delivers.
NCsoft didn't make Guild Wars. So there.
ArenaNet is the developer, not NCSoft.
It's wholly owned subsidiary, not an independent studio with a publishing contract through NC. They're not that separate.
Yes they are, actually. All games developed by NCSoft are made in Korea by their own NCSoft development team. ArenaNet is a US company and has a completely different development team than NCSoft.
Sure, the NCSoft NA leadership may oversee what ArenaNet is doing, but if the first Guild Wars game is any indicator, NCSoft pretty much lets ArenaNet take their own game in the direction they want.
Guild Wars 1 was a great game, the innovative primary/secondary class skill set coupled with a limited skillbar proved to make for extremely interesting builds. One of the reasons I believe that MMO's get stale is that there is a certain amount of power you are given when every skill included in your arsenal is readily available at a moments notice.
The 8 skill bar in GW1 along with skill points and "primary profession" skill points proved to make people think about their builds. To a few people I noticed complaining about the skillbar persisting within GW2 I have one thing to say. They are actually doing you a favor.
Back in GW1 you had 8 slots...for everything. If you included a sigil of ressurection and an elite skill you really only walked around with 6. The developers have realized this and created dedicated slots that are for elite skills as well as a personal healing skill. This in itself is not far fetched from Turbine (aka Warner Bros) method they put into LOTRO in which every class has some self heal of a sort. It allows for self-sustaining solo play, albeit at a cost, perhaps more downtime. Longer cooldowns, what have you.
This dynamic allows healers to do things other then hit heal all the time. My fondest memories of GW1 were playing my monk. GW1 was the only game in which I completely enjoyed being a healer. Why? Because instead of going pure healing, I went into Protection and Divine Spirit (apologies if I got the wrong primary for monk here, it's been awhile since I played).
The failings of GW started when they released Factions, and was further amplified by Nightfall. The already segregated cities, and instanced world caused alot of people to already not meet new people. This was put on two-fold by heroes replacing your typical Mercenary. By adding in persistant "Heroes" that you could equip and customized I found groups that were more NPC, then human. Hopefully by making their world larger and persistant and less instanced GW2 will provide that grandious feeling you get when playing MMO's.
Not to sidetrack or mention the elephant in the room (No pun intended on the article of the same name here on MMORPG.com), but that was one of the greatest feats of WoW. Was creating this grand feeling when you entered certain cities. I'll still never forget walking into Stormwind and literally having my breath taken away as I listened to the excellent music and looked at the architecture. To this day if I still played WoW, I could enjoy myself just riding/flying around looking at the scenery. The only feeling I ever really got from GW that came close was the majestic, and virgin innocence of Pre-Searing Ascalon.
I for one, have been burnt by many MMO's over the years since I stopped dedicating my time to WoW. My first introduction to online gaming was a little-known MUD known as "The Two Towers". WoW was my first MMO, partly because I was very much into playing WC3 at the time. After WoW, I played LOTRO, Pirates of the Burning Sea, Star Trek Online, WAR. And all of them to one degree or another failed to provide key elements of success that I had gotten used to in WoW.
I am still cautiously optimistic about GW2. Of all the MMO's in development, it seems like ArenaNet has actually done the unthinkable, took what was good and improved it, while realizing the bad designs in GW1 and attempting to eliminate them. GW2 feels like the first chance at finding a new "MMO Home" for me in a long time.
well u all wil laugh at me but ahh well i dont care. i collect games and playem when others fail me. atm i got the guild wars trilogy (havent played it much yet) plan to get eye of the north n other goodies. and i do plan to get Guild Wars 2 why...just to have the entire collection and well its f2p online forever once i buy it. hehe (already got the entire GTA series n few other games collections along with fallout XD ) so naturally i am waiting for this game but i am highly curious if we can do normal jumps in gw2 besides typing /jump to jump...lol ahh well doesnt take much to please me..lol anyhow +1 to gw2 :-) btw fire imp is fun :-)
10-slot skill bar equals deal-breaker. I don't play games that limit me in my choice of skills at my disposal. It's my friggin' skill and I'll use it whenever and wherever I feel like it or don't bother giving it to me in the first place. It's that simple. It's why I didn't play Guild Wars and its why I won't play GW2.
Oops. Another mob popped behind me. No biggie. I'll just fear him and place until I'm done killing this one...oh, wait. Silly me chose to have another melee skill instead of my fear because this stupid game won't let me have access to all of my skills.
Lame.
So did you not think to ask about payment model or were those type of questions off limits?
Its pretty much a guarantee that GW2 will have an item mall but I wonder how extensive it will be.
Saying something is a deal breaker without ever trying it is a form of ignorance. Skills in GW1 (and to a lesser extend GW2) are(will) be about finding synergy between them. Overall skills in GW1 were more powerful then most games. And a reason why they don't give you all your skills, well, are you going to go into an area/mission that has ice elementals all over the place and bring your water/ice skills? Or are you going to bring your fire skills? (This isn't a hard question...)
You don't use all your skills at the same time in WoW or whatever it is you are playing at the moment anyhow. If you took out ALL the ranks of the skills that WoW gives you, and all the crap skills that noone uses, I dare say you would have LESS skills then GW1 players use on a regular basis.