[youtube]WBAQiIesrGg[/youtube]
[youtube]FU1JUwPqzQY[/youtube]
so i'm actually pretty glad there's no guild wars 2 thread yet, as it lets me go a little nuts with introducing this game to people
no doubt if you're already an mmo fan you'll have heard of guild wars 2, so feel free to skip ahead to the specifics. if not, however, the simplest way to introduce the game is probably to define it as an mmo that seeks to uproot and do away with everything that mmos are infamous for -- endless, mindless grinding, static worlds, dull combat -- while building on the excellent foundations of the mmo concept
so how does it seek to accomplish that?
i'm told these guys are kind of a big deal
the premise
probably the most obvious difference between gw2 and other mainstream mmos is the lack of questing. there's no "talk to x, hear about the bandits attacking his y at z and head over to see them all standing around". instead, upon arrive in a given zone, a scout will be on hand to inform you of the situation in the area. your map (which is gorgeous, by the way), is pulled up and several problem areas are highlighted for you. which, if any, you tackle is up to you, and you can veer off and assist with anything that catches your eye en route
"uhh, are those some giant fucking heads? lol, i don't care what you say dude, we are checking out those giant fucking heads"
one of the things that developers spoke about in an interview was how it seems strange in mmos, thanks to the static nature of the worlds, to be headed to help out somewhere under the pretence of being a hero and notice on your way bandits attacking a farm by the wayside. chances are you're going to skip out and not do anything about it, because in reality those bandits will always be there, and so hunting them down becomes pointless. in turn, you ignore the npcs crying for help, and by extension you're really not much of a hero after all
this is not so in gw2. running over a hilltop you might catch a band of centaurs closing in on a farm, or better still, running rampant over a farmstead in flames, which really lets you swoop in and do your thing -- because there are consequences if you don't. these dynamic events are tracked alongside the rest of the goings-on nearby, and you can happily not assist with defending a given location and watch it fall into enemy hands. if the area is still in a bad way when you come back later, you can assist npcs and other players in fighting to regain control of the land and pushing whatever the threat is back. often this isn't even done by meeting a predetermined kill count requirement, but instead tracked by the morale of the enemy. you needn't hunt down every last one but rather beat them back just enough to send the remainder packing, whether its bandits raiding a settlement, centaurs razing a farmstead or bears trashing beehives for honey (i'm not kidding)
this philosophy carries over to larger scale events, too. there are instanced dungeons and bosses in the game, but there are also zone-wide boss encounters that everybody working in a given area is called to help fight off. there's no need to queue or sit around in a city hub shouting "LFM!!"; you can just as easily stumble into a cave and discover an enormous number of players getting stuck in on a giant cave troll that sends them flying back out with sweeps of its arms. for the particularly large encounters the music and camera change dynamically, panning out to give you a true impression of the scale of the encounter and kicking the score into something suitably dramatic. the preparation and gearing up for the infiltration of a dungeon is great, but so too is the panic of an impromptu disaster that needs shutting down
oh, and there's no dedicated healing class, and everyone can resurrect other players
heh
"uhh, are those some giant fucking heads? lol, i don't care what you say dude, we are checking out those giant fucking heads"
one of the things that developers spoke about in an interview was how it seems strange in mmos, thanks to the static nature of the worlds, to be headed to help out somewhere under the pretence of being a hero and notice on your way bandits attacking a farm by the wayside. chances are you're going to skip out and not do anything about it, because in reality those bandits will always be there, and so hunting them down becomes pointless. in turn, you ignore the npcs crying for help, and by extension you're really not much of a hero after all
this is not so in gw2. running over a hilltop you might catch a band of centaurs closing in on a farm, or better still, running rampant over a farmstead in flames, which really lets you swoop in and do your thing -- because there are consequences if you don't. these dynamic events are tracked alongside the rest of the goings-on nearby, and you can happily not assist with defending a given location and watch it fall into enemy hands. if the area is still in a bad way when you come back later, you can assist npcs and other players in fighting to regain control of the land and pushing whatever the threat is back. often this isn't even done by meeting a predetermined kill count requirement, but instead tracked by the morale of the enemy. you needn't hunt down every last one but rather beat them back just enough to send the remainder packing, whether its bandits raiding a settlement, centaurs razing a farmstead or bears trashing beehives for honey (i'm not kidding)
yeah, it's a lot easier to look badass and peerless when you're about a thousand feet away from the enemy
this philosophy carries over to larger scale events, too. there are instanced dungeons and bosses in the game, but there are also zone-wide boss encounters that everybody working in a given area is called to help fight off. there's no need to queue or sit around in a city hub shouting "LFM!!"; you can just as easily stumble into a cave and discover an enormous number of players getting stuck in on a giant cave troll that sends them flying back out with sweeps of its arms. for the particularly large encounters the music and camera change dynamically, panning out to give you a true impression of the scale of the encounter and kicking the score into something suitably dramatic. the preparation and gearing up for the infiltration of a dungeon is great, but so too is the panic of an impromptu disaster that needs shutting down
oh, and there's no dedicated healing class, and everyone can resurrect other players
heh
the story
set 250 years after the events of the first guild wars, a lot has changed in tyria. the previously dominant humans are in severe decline, with krytans and their capital, divinity's reach, serving as the last bastion of humanity. filling the void in power are several of the races encountered in gw1, now playable -- the charr, the norn, and the asura. joining this ensemble of races are the sylvari, previously unseen
so what's kicking in tyria, then? the main thrust of the overarching story is that the elder dragons, beings with power equal to or exceeding the gods the humans worship have awoken after a long slumber and are wreaking havoc. the most imminent threat, apparently, is a dragon the dwarves called "zhaitan", and it is this dragon, presumably, that will serve as endgame content at the initial launch
so apparently when this fella awoke he like sundered the earth and caused tidal waves that wiped out coastal settlements. sure, it is a little familiar, but did deathwing command an undead naval fleet?
aside from this overarching game-wide story, the developers have gone to great lengths to make the story of gw2 feel like the player's story first and foremost. to that end, character creation involves making several choices about your character's life up until this point that one by one build up an image of who you really are in this game world. what this amounts to is a questline potentially unique to you that runs the length of the game and is shaped piece by piece by the choices you make as you progress. within the player's home city each player has an instanced home, and players of the same race may at first start out with identical home instances but soon have vastly different homes as reflections of their journeys and the stories of their character
it was always fun for sarah to group with john, but his personal story "I MUST WEAR A BEAR SUIT EVERY HOUR OF EVERY DAY" did get a little grating
so what's kicking in tyria, then? the main thrust of the overarching story is that the elder dragons, beings with power equal to or exceeding the gods the humans worship have awoken after a long slumber and are wreaking havoc. the most imminent threat, apparently, is a dragon the dwarves called "zhaitan", and it is this dragon, presumably, that will serve as endgame content at the initial launch
so apparently when this fella awoke he like sundered the earth and caused tidal waves that wiped out coastal settlements. sure, it is a little familiar, but did deathwing command an undead naval fleet?
aside from this overarching game-wide story, the developers have gone to great lengths to make the story of gw2 feel like the player's story first and foremost. to that end, character creation involves making several choices about your character's life up until this point that one by one build up an image of who you really are in this game world. what this amounts to is a questline potentially unique to you that runs the length of the game and is shaped piece by piece by the choices you make as you progress. within the player's home city each player has an instanced home, and players of the same race may at first start out with identical home instances but soon have vastly different homes as reflections of their journeys and the stories of their character
it was always fun for sarah to group with john, but his personal story "I MUST WEAR A BEAR SUIT EVERY HOUR OF EVERY DAY" did get a little grating
the races
"with the roar of engines and the thunder of guns, we rip each day from life's teeth"
charr
"if you are bold enough, your legend will live forever"
norn
"evil threatens tyria, but our dream will guide us through darkness... to dawn"
sylvari
"brain, not brawn, will change the world"
asura
"... we fight for our homes, our gods, and our queen. nothing can break our spirit"
human
