Why I'm excited about Guild Wars 2

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Guild Wars 2 is going to be awesome, and here’s my two primary reasons for thinking so.

After my first impressions on SW:TOR the other day, I thought I’d mention why Guild Wars 2 has made me not only take notice but get genuinely excited about, since WoW in 2005. Specifically I thought I’d post about this since I found two excellent videos on the things  I found awesome to have in an MMORPG.

First: Dynamic Events

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdydcMu8u5I#t=30s

The video also doesn’t mention that each dynamic event is composed of a cluster of different quests, each of which actually progresses towards completing that event. So you could be defending a smithy from a kobold assault, and you could be either fighting the kobolds, or repairing damage inflicted on the smithy, or gathering required minerals to fuel it, or manning a catapult and so on. This allowed each player to help towards the dynamic event objective, by finding an activity they prefer, or even swap activity in the middle, if the one they do is boring.

If this sounds promising, Check out this detailed look by the game designers.

Second: The Death of the Holy Trinity

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xGDL6QVL-8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wab8xhnXyGA#t=30s

Now this is something I’m really eager to see in action. I always found the way that a game locked you into a role and then made some roles boring but necessary to be completely anti-fun. I love the idea that I may be playing a tanky wizard and then instantly switch to a DPS skill set if I lose aggro, while whoever gets targeted can tank up if needed. Hell, just the idea that I can play a tanky wizard makes me happy. I always try to play tanky combat wizards.

There are certainly quite a few other reasons that add to that, but these two concepts  above are the primary changes to standard MMORPG gameplay that add a degree of innovation I believe will make the game significantly different enough to keep me interested.

Anyone else planning to play it?

 

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5 thoughts on “Why I'm excited about Guild Wars 2”

  1. Re: Holy Trinity

    I quit WoW long before this, but I think that they have solved the holy trinity nowadays. All classes now can heal/dps/aoe somehow. I don't think I like this anymore. What's the point of playing a rogue if he can do the same things a cleric or a mage can?

    I am torn, because I didn't like wow's system either. Some classes were useless.

    1. As far as I know, all classes in WoW can't do everything as good. They have a few abilities, and there's a few hybird classes, but when you go for raids, you still need a dedicated tank, with tank items and tanky tank tank tank. The videos I posted above explain how WoW adding some minor options for hybridism falls short on breaking the holy trinity.

      As for the point of allowing each class to do tank/dps and heal: The idea is that you're not pidgeonholed in one role with your favourite character. If you're missing a healer to do an instance, one can take that role, or even cycle it between players as one gets bored. Or you could all do it a bit. It opens up possibilities. And it's not like a trinity adds significant variation by itself. It's not TF2 where you have 8 classes doing very specific things. One DPS is usually as good as the other, so in WoW, you're not so much playing a Rogue, as you're playing a "DPS" char. So what's the point of playing a rogue DPS when it can do the same thing as a Mage DPS? Obviously the difference is on what you like to role play and what kind of style you prefer. Same is true in GW2, only you also get the capacity to do other stuff if you get bored.

      Finally, it allows a more interesting combat that does not rely simply on positioning, as the game will force you to learn when to switch to a tank, healer or DPS role in the same battle.

    1. You're borderline spamming. If you want to promote your side, do it respectfully and openly and I won't mind. Not like a spambot.

  3. Don't know how much into tabletop RPG you are, but it was recently announced that there is a Pathfinder MMO in the works. From their descriptions, it looks very promising. All that remains to be seen is whether or not they can actually pull it off. https://goblinworks.com/

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