Looking forward to Guild wars 2

[ATARI800XLfan]

Not 100 percent this is in the right section .How many others are looking forward to Guild wars 2. I will admit I never played the first one but have read the books and they have made major gameplay changes and improvements, they just use the same lore and story information from first game. I personally like how it looks because it seems to be truly trying to push the genre instead of being a WOW clone. From awesome working WvW to no more requiring a healer, tank, and dps just to do a mission. To the single player campaign that you can actually make meaningful choices in. Plus the less grinding, dynamic missions. Secondary story told by dungeons.

To more emphasis on actually playing as a team instead of trying to get the loot. Plus free to play and in general looking like it fixes all the things people do not like about WOW. I also like how they are not trying to take down WOW unlike some previous MMO's. Plus so far from the beta's I have not heard one bad thing about the game in general gameplay wise. Of course the game is not optimized all the way yet and there was some lag but that is what stress tests are for.

One thing I do not get is the GW2 vs WOW arguments. Mostly the people who are so against WOW not having the most players anymore. What is so bad about wow not being number 1 anymore. I call that progress and if it does happen it is because another game is better, and it will happen. WOW can't be number one forever.

In short I have not looked this forward to a MMORPG well in ever, besides Star Trek online. Long live Trekkies.



http://www.pcgamer.com/previews/guild-w ... eview-5/3/

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/article ... -2-Preview

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/08/27/guild ... mon-sense/























http://pc.ign.com/articles/122/1223960p1.html

Is any one else looking forward to it, what are your general thoughts.

[isiolia]

I've prepurchased it and played in some beta events. So, yes.

The Guild Wars series in general gets overlooked a lot in my opinion. I blame the name
Seriously though, there are a lot of talented people that have worked on both, and there's a significant PvE side to them.
The first one is still worth playing too, it doesn't take -that- long to get through the missions n' all (20-35 hours per campaign I'd say). Does get somewhat repetitive, but it's all soloable. It's not an MMO proper though, probably most comparable to PSO. Everything outside of town is instanced.

GW2 is very much designed to let people just get on and play. By design, there's basically no way that other players can impede your game experience. Someone else killing the same stuff you need? Great! You can work together without formally grouping. Or, more accurately, you can't not, short of refusing to participate at all.

The main potential downside is that some of the harsher, "bad design" elements of MMOs can actually tend to be what brings players together (or cause drama) or hook them on the game. I don't know that as many GW2 players will feel like they're a critical part of a team, or get the same sense of satisfaction from a rare piece of loot that some other games create. Good or bad really. I think it's a spectacular game if you don't want something that demands a commitment.

[ATARI800XLfan]

I've prepurchased it and played in some beta events. So, yes.

The Guild Wars series in general gets overlooked a lot in my opinion. I blame the name
Seriously though, there are a lot of talented people that have worked on both, and there's a significant PvE side to them.
The first one is still worth playing too, it doesn't take -that- long to get through the missions n' all (20-35 hours per campaign I'd say). Does get somewhat repetitive, but it's all soloable. It's not an MMO proper though, probably most comparable to PSO. Everything outside of town is instanced.

GW2 is very much designed to let people just get on and play. By design, there's basically no way that other players can impede your game experience. Someone else killing the same stuff you need? Great! You can work together without formally grouping. Or, more accurately, you can't not, short of refusing to participate at all.

The main potential downside is that some of the harsher, "bad design" elements of MMOs can actually tend to be what brings players together (or cause drama) or hook them on the game. I don't know that as many GW2 players will feel like they're a critical part of a team, or get the same sense of satisfaction from a rare piece of loot that some other games create. Good or bad really. I think it's a spectacular game if you don't want something that demands a commitment.

Do stores still sell Guild wars and its expansions? I remember playing PSO on the Dreamcast. What is your opinion of these silly WOW vs GW2 arguments and people thinking WOW can never be surpassed. Or that it can't be beat because GW2 and other games do not have subs. Defiently looking forward to the game though. If I were to pre-order it do stores still have the beta's keys or where there a limited amount. Also my computer right now only has a AMD 3000 integrated graphics card, would it be able to play the game. Also just wondering what race and class are you? I am personally I fan of the charr from what I have seen, probably eng.

Mentioning talented people I find it interesting a lot of the developer group is made up of Blizzard/WOW employees, did they get tired of how Blizzard was doing things? Actually ArenaNet reminds me a lot of early bungie(Halo 1, 2) in that they really seem to honestly enjoy what they are doing, always want to improve,move the genre forward and really care about there customers and there products. They seem like one of the few game developers left that honestly care about there products and fan-base over just making something for profit. The fact they are already doing open beta's and have from what I have seen always been very open and welcoming of fans suggestions, feedback, and questions. They seem to still connect with the fans. They seem like they are still true gamers. We need more companies like them.

Even the two books in-between 1 and 2 where good. Also trailer is awesome. First video listed

[isiolia]

Do stores still sell Guild wars and its expansions?

The game is still quite available as far as I've seen. Personally I bought it on sale on Steam. It's usually around $30 for the Trilogy bundle, which includes Prophecies (the original release), Factions, and Nightfall. Each of those are technically stand-alone campaigns, though a character created in one can gain access to travel between them all fairly easily. That said, the low level experience differs in each, and you can't travel around immediately.

The other boxed product is Eye of the North, which is the only retail product that requires you own one of the previous games. There is a bundle with Trilogy + EoTN, but I've not seen it on as many shelves.

Arenanet has also been releasing new quest lines as part of Guild Wars Beyond, providing more story to link GW1 and GW2.

If you're primarily interested in things that'll be in GW2 at launch, then Prophecies, Eye of the North, and Beyond are set in the relevant areas. I expect that the areas that Factions and Nightfall cover will be added later.

You can basically treat the PvE as a single player game and it works. I can think of a couple missions where you'll be tossed in with another player/group if you're entering close to the same time (to cooperate, otherwise you get an NPC group), and maybe a couple missions where not relying entirely on AI would be nice.

As indicated, town hubs have other players in them, but once you leave the gates it's instanced. The game is set up so that you can flesh out a party with NPCs of a couple varieties. Henchmen, which are set in each town hub, limiting their level and professions, and Heroes, which allow for more control and customization.

Unlike GW2, GW1 is not presented as an MMO. It's a co-op RPG.

What is your opinion of these silly WOW vs GW2 arguments and people thinking WOW can never be surpassed. Or that it can't be beat because GW2 and other games do not have subs. Defiently looking forward to the game though. If I were to pre-order it do stores still have the beta's keys or where there a limited amount. Also my computer right now only has a AMD 3000 integrated graphics card, would it be able to play the game. Also just wondering what race and class are you? I am personally I fan of the charr from what I have seen, probably eng.

I think WoW is set to be quite an establishment for a long time to come. There are still people playing UO and EQ. I don't really think you're going to see WoW die a sudden death. Cut their subs in half and it's still the dominant MMO by millions of subscribers. Hell, cut their subs by 90% and they're still doing better than nearly everything else.

To me, trying to be a "WoW-killer" is the wrong approach, and it's one that I don't think Arenanet is actually intending. The point of being the WoW-killer is to convert the subscription fees from Blizzard to whatever you're releasing. Obviously, with GW2's model, that's not their goal.

I don't think it's so much going to storm in and take over, but become a common second game for MMO fans to play. That's the nice thing with no subscription fee. It can be there, on standby, just in case. Want to log in? Hey, you can go join in all sorts of stuff, no hoping to get a group or applying to a guild. I don't doubt there will be more exclusive groups too, but relative to other games you can simply join in on a lot.

I'm not sure about what stores have. I just bought it directly from Arenanet. While I'm not keen on digital-only, it's an MMO. It depends on their servers being there either way.

I don't know if the game will run on what you have. GW1, probably, it's a bit older and not demanding.

I have tried to sample different races and classes during the beta events. In GW1, my only level 20 character is a Mesmer, and you can only play as a human in that (mine is Asian, since she was created in Factions). In the beta events I've participated in, Silvari and Asura were not available, but I tried the other three. So far I've like Mesmer in GW2 as well, but really haven't had the time to give all of the jobs a fair shake. Not sure on race, though probably not Charr, just not my thing. They have done a very nice job on them though, nice attention to detail in the animations and all.

Mentioning talented people I find it interesting a lot of the developer group is made up of Blizzard/WOW employees, did they get tired of how Blizzard was doing things?

Maybe in part because they've not been left relatively to their own ways by NCSoft. They do have that hands-on approach. There are plenty of people disgruntled about this or that with changes to GW1 or what the cash shop has in GW2, etc, but there's always going to be someone complaining.

I tend to just bring up the level of talent and quality in the game because, to me, it's an easy series to write off. I didn't pay it much mind when it came out. When I eventually did try it, I was impressed. Look into it and, oh, they've got the same (or better) caliber of talent than Bethesda or Bioware tend to wrangle. Jeremy Soule on music, just like the Elder Scrolls games (and plenty more). Jeff Grubb, who has written a lot of the lore from Nightfall on, helped create classic RPG settings for pen and paper. They've got incredibly talented concept artists as well. Good, if not appropriate voice actors too (Maurice LaMarche (the Brain, among many others) voices Vekk, the one Asura Hero you get in GW1).

[ATARI800XLfan]

I also agree that I doubt they are trying to kill WOW. Now making a game that is generally better then the current king in its Genre I could see. Which I think is a goal all developers should have, to make the best game possible and push the genre forward(which I am usually not a stickler for graphics but about time they improved when it comes to MMO's). Cause lets face it WOW has been pretty much the same over the years. I just do not get people that seem to take offense to a developer trying to do that or saying it can't be as good because it is not sub. I am sorry WOW fans but games and genre's do evolve over time. Mentioning Voice actors I was surprised to see Steve Blum doing some voice work. He is like a heavy hitter in games and anime when it comes to voice work.

[isiolia]

Now making a game that is generally better then the current king in its Genre I could see. Which I think is a goal all developers should have, to make the best game possible and push the genre forward(which I am usually not a stickler for graphics but about time they improved when it comes to MMO's). Cause lets face it WOW has been pretty much the same over the years.

Part of the problem with that is an MMO at launch rarely shows the full scope of what the game may become. 5, 10 years down the line, if they stick around, the game might be quite different. WoW has changed a bit, or so I've been told. FFXI is quite different from when I started.
By the same token,any new title isn't being compared to the established games at launch, except perhaps in passing. On average, launches are better now. The issue is more that players tend to quickly work through what's in them and compare it to games that have been expanded and refined for years already. Ones that they might have more of an attachment to due to time put into them.


Graphically, the game is good, but not pushing the edge by any means (keep in mind that there are options to take ultra-quality screens, and many demo videos are using nonstandard cameras). I do think it has a good aesthetic that will stand up even if the technical capabilities are lesser. Plus, I trust Arenanet to actually get things running like they -should- on a given set of hardware. GW1, though dated in some ways, is at least quite flexible and not quirky. They actually behave like PC-first applications, which probably sounds like odd praise for an MMO if you haven't played Square-Enix's entries to the genre...

There have been some good looking MMOs already, though arguably WoW's rudimentary graphics have helped it, as it's always been playable on a very wide variety of systems.

[ATARI800XLfan]

I see your point. By making changes that fix some of the short comings/standards of other MMO's like WOW people can become friends based on if they like how the other plays compared to being forced in a way by having nothing else to do well waiting besides talking. It gives players the chance to truly work as a team by understanding each others strengths and weakness and work together quickly without a set leader having to tell everyone else what to do. That's just my opinion of it though.

[ATARI800XLfan]

game update:

http://news.mmosite.com/content/a/2012- ... nned.shtml

Also no region lock or DRM for the game, +1. Why Can't more be like this.

[isiolia]

Also no region lock or DRM for the game, +1. Why Can't more be like this.

I'd say it has the same DRM as most MMOs do. The main thing there is player expectation. Saying you need to log into a server and maintain a connection to play a single player game would have people up in arms. For an MMO, it's expected. You need an active account to play. Purchasing the game will let you create one.

[ATARI800XLfan]

Recently played the last Guild wars 2 beta weekend and all I can say is my god. It played on medium to low settings(shadows and 1280X1024 resolution) on my little 380 dollar computer and I absolutely loved the game. It looked so stunning and it is still using Direct X 9, not optimized. Built in Graphics card on mine.
It truly does push the MMORPG genre forward. The pve and pvp was awesome. The world vs world worked perfectly and the single player was as diverse storyline wise as modern RPG's. Plus from asking WOW players for example the map is almost double the size of what WOW is now.
I got my first character, a Charr as far as I could for the beta story by the second day and was still under level 20, four missions I think. Which was based off of my legion, fathers story, and skill(charm, dignity or ferocity)class, plus others. Then played a different one with different charr legion and father,class and sure enough those aspects were completely different. None of the missions were the same. The combat was fluid, fast paced and balanced.
I was lucky if I got 4 hours of sleep a day. Not because I know the beta was only going to last so long or because I am a die hard fan but because I was generally having so much fun I did not want to get off of the game.