Guild Wars 2

[jakonovski]

Old Guild Wars player doesn't want anything to change, ever.

But yeah, this seems exactly what I need these days. A multiplayer RPG but without the hellish grind fueled by subscriptions. As a former M:tG nut, the ccg aspect of skills is totally awesome and leads to better gaming (even if it is less than completely opaque). Collecting colourful skill icons is fun. I fondly remember gathering the elite skills, or whatever they were called, for my fire Elementalist/Mesmer in GW Prophecies. Gave meaning to the pve. I wasn't half bad at the pvp stuff either.  

[Lantyssa]

I'm hoping they open up a little bit of variety with the first five.  I don't tend to use any key past 5 or 6, so if we have no control over what they are, it will effectively keep me from using my obtained and racial skills.  (I simply don't have the coordination for it in any fast-paced combat.)

Now if they make 1-5 weapon/shield strikes that you can select from for each weapon combination, that wouldn't be so bad.

[DLRiley]

Imagine if CCP decided to make EVE 2 but for the masses. I would imagine something like "not losing your ship if it is destroyed" would set this entire forum ablaze in riot and protest.

[jakonovski]

Imagine if CCP decided to make EVE 2 but for the masses. I would imagine something like "not losing your ship if it is destroyed" would set this entire forum ablaze in riot and protest.

Doesn't work. CCP and EVE live off the loldrama, while Guild Wars needs the box sales. Therefore, accessibility is king, or at least some sort of royalty.

[ezrast]

I'm hoping they open up a little bit of variety with the first five.  I don't tend to use any key past 5 or 6, so if we have no control over what they are, it will effectively keep me from using my obtained and racial skills.  (I simply don't have the coordination for it in any fast-paced combat.)

Now if they make 1-5 weapon/shield strikes that you can select from for each weapon combination, that wouldn't be so bad.

Even if you can't move your abilities you can probably remap your keys. Anymore I usually keep my primary stuff on ZXCV instead of 1234 with longer cooldowns on F and R. My pinky rests naturally on Shift when I do WASD-type games (this may just be me though) so there are 12 keybinds that don't really require moving my hand at all.

edit: forgot to add, those screenshots are hella pretty.

[jakonovski]

I just have one of those multibutton mice. Unfortunately I'm a leftie, so it restricts my choice.

[ezrast]

So am I, but I've never moused with my left hand. I still refuse to use right-handed mice though, on principle.

[Zzulo]

http://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/combat/part-two/

More info released. Some of it was leaked yesterday but not all of it I think:

Weapons
One of the things that became apparent early in the development of Guild Wars 2 was that we needed a diverse set of weapons to support our skill system. The full list of standard wieldable weapons in Guild Wars 2 is as follows:

One-Handed: Axe, dagger, mace, pistol, scepter, and sword.

Two-Handed: Greatsword, hammer, longbow, rifle, shortbow, and staff.

Offhand only: Focus, shield, torch, and warhorn.

No single profession is able to use all of these weapons, and some of them can wield a lot more than others. Many professions can also wield a one-handed weapon in their offhand. A weapon in the offhand will have different skills than that same weapon wielded in the main hand. A warrior, for example, can learn to dual-wield and choose to equip two swords, which would give him three skills from the sword in his main hand and two skills from the sword in his offhand.


Environmental Weapons
So the weapons you're currently holding in your hands determine your first five skills. This system is the basic building block of Guild Wars 2 combat, but when playing around with it we found that we could extend it into a huge variety of cool situations. For example, when a player interacts with a siege weapon, his first five skills change to skills that are specific to that siege weapon. A player might encounter a boulder in the world and, upon picking it up, find that his skills have changed so that he can now throw that boulder. Discovering a drake nest might yield eggs that can be picked up, and then eaten or thrown. The things a character can do with an environmental weapon vary by profession or race. An Elementalist with a boulder can not only throw it, but can launch it into the air, causing it to rocket down from the sky with the impact of a meteor. In addition to objects that are simply found in the world, many of these environmental weapons are created spontaneously through various events and activities. Wooden planks used to smack enemies can be gained by killing oakhearts, or found in the rubble caused by centaurs breaking down a wooden gate. Breaking a barstool over the head of a rowdy bar patron can yield a chair leg that can be used to great effect as a club. These are just a few of the many environment objects that players will be able to interact with. There are even a few professions whose mechanics are built heavily upon these sorts of interactions, like the Elementalist skill Conjure Flame that creates several large flaming rocks that can then be picked up and thrown at the enemy.


Professions
Choice of profession will of course have a huge impact on how the game plays. There are eight professions in Guild Wars 2, many of which will be familiar to fans of Guild Wars, as well as a few professions new to the Guild Wars world. Each of these professions is roughly categorized by the type of armor they wear: scholars wear light armor, adventurers wear medium armor, and soldiers wear heavy armor. Currently there are three scholar professions, three adventurer professions and two soldier professions.

When designing our professions it was very important to us to make each of them feel as unique and different as possible. In addition to weapon, armor and skill choice, we've developed a number of cool profession mechanics for each one. We'll be revealing new professions on our website, so it should start becoming apparent just how much we've tried to push the unique play style of each of them.

Many players from Guild Wars are familiar with the concept of secondary professions. We included secondary professions in early versions of Guild Wars 2, but due to the unique mechanics of each profession and the increased role of race in character customization, they are no longer a feature of the game. We feel that this decision will allow us to create a more balanced game with really distinct professions that are fun to play.


Cross Profession Combos
It's very important that professions in an MMO have interesting ways to interact with each other. In the past this has mostly been limited to healing and buffing teammates and managing agro in combat. We wanted to expand considerably upon the types of teamwork available to our players. With this in mind, we've implemented a system of cross-profession combinations.

A warrior and an Elementalist playing together could combine their abilities in several different ways. The Elementalist could drop down Static Field, which is an area-targeted lightning effect. A warrior who fires a rifle bullet through the static field would cause his shot to be charged up with electricity, inflicting additional damage. If that didn't suit their style, then the Elementalist might drop a Wall of Fire in front of a group of enemies. The warrior could enter the firewall and use Cyclone Axe, an attack which causes him to spin rapidly, sending the firewall outward and hitting his foes. There are literally hundreds of combinations for players to discover.


Races
A player's choice of race is also an important decision which will affect his combat prowess. We've already discussed how a player can choose racial skills among his second five skills. These skills are designed to provide the player with additional options that capture the flavor of his particular race. A sylvari warrior might choose to bring Grasping Roots, which immobilizes a foe, while an asura warrior might choose to bring Arcane Blast for some additional ranged damage.

A player can also choose to bring elite racial skills. A norn Elementalist might take the norn skill Wolf Form and transform into a giant half-norn half-wolf able to tear across the battlefield, savaging enemies. A human might bring the Hounds of Balthazaar, a skill which summons two massive fiery dogs into the battle. Racial skills can combine with profession skills to give players a wealth of choices when deciding how they want to play their characters.

In The Not So Distant Future
What I've covered here is just the tip of the iceberg! I hope that you all have a clearer view of how combat in Guild Wars 2 works, what some of our goals with the combat system are, and why we've made some of the decisions we've made. I also wanted to note that we have an iterative development process here at ArenaNet. What that means is that we like to implement things early, then play them and see how they are working out. If a feature isn't living up to our expectations, we'll change it, sometimes even cutting it entirely. Anything that I've talked about is subject to change if we find it just isn't working. Look for the next update of this type to be from our Lead Content Designer Colin Johanson, who'll talk to you about our dynamic event system and why it will make playing Guild Wars 2  a very different experience from a more traditional quest-based MMO.

[jakonovski]

So am I, but I've never moused with my left hand. I still refuse to use right-handed mice though, on principle.

The right hand is my work mouse hand, and the left is for gaming.

[DLRiley]

Imagine if CCP decided to make EVE 2 but for the masses. I would imagine something like "not losing your ship if it is destroyed" would set this entire forum ablaze in riot and protest.

Doesn't work. CCP and EVE live off the loldrama, while Guild Wars needs the box sales. Therefore, accessibility is king, or at least some sort of royalty.

Actually more so for eve because unlike guild wars eve is super reliant on pleasing the nerds fans in order to gain any sort of success. While guild wars 2 can count on the guys who bought war and aoc initially + their fanbase, since all they really need is the box sales.

[Sheepherder]

I don't tend to use any key past 5 or 6, so if we have no control over what they are, it will effectively keep me from using my obtained and racial skills.

I use the arrow keys / right number pad with all of my games.  There's 22 keys arrayed around the arrows and several of them are very distinct by feel.

[Ingmar]

As another left-handed person, you people are crazy. Just use a right handed mouse with your right hand, it isn't hard! It isn't like it is a pair of scissors! 

[Nonentity]

Aw, they removed subclassing. :(

They added pistols and rifles, though!

[jakonovski]

As another left-handed person, you people are crazy. Just use a right handed mouse with your right hand, it isn't hard! It isn't like it is a pair of scissors! 

Scissors are right hand only.

[Simond]

Says who?

[Ingmar]

You never had to use those second class citizen left handed safety scissors in elementary school?

[jakonovski]

You never had to use those second class citizen left handed safety scissors in elementary school?

They only had right handed scissors and were all like "you fucking use them son!"

[Segoris]

They only had right handed scissors and were all like "you fucking use them son!"

That was my experience growing up as well. Finding almost anything left handed was a bitch back then.

Says who?

Nice, a real life leftorium! 

[Zzulo]

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/04/29/guild-wars-2-interview-part-2-a-major-event/

2nd part of the interview posted a page back or so. Mentions they have over 1500 "events" in the game, apparently  something similar to Public Quests.

[Tmon]

This sounds oddly familiar.

...Some events are triggered by players, and are almost Easter-eggy. There’s one where if players kill the deer in the forest then one of the predators who are used to feeding on the deer will come out and attack one of the villages...

source http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/04/29/guild-wars-2-interview-part-2-a-major-event/

[LK]

This sounds oddly familiar.

...Some events are triggered by players, and are almost Easter-eggy. There’s one where if players kill the deer in the forest then one of the predators who are used to feeding on the deer will come out and attack one of the villages...

source http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/04/29/guild-wars-2-interview-part-2-a-major-event/

At this point I'd like to get my hands on the game and not listen to any developer speak filtered through PR. What they state exists and what is actually there can be two very different things.

[tazelbain]

Since I played my first PQ, I always thought scaling would make them better.  Glad someone is trying this.

[DayDream]

Boy, Arenanet, you are indeed promising the moon here.  But I am interested in how close you're going to get.

I did see one mention of instancing in the this recent marketing blast, to whoever said something about GW not being instanced this time around.

[Sheepherder]

Imagine if CCP decided to make EVE 2 but for the masses. I would imagine something like "not losing your ship if it is destroyed" would set this entire forum ablaze in riot and protest.

No, we'd all be flying Kamikaze missions.  You're all alone here.  The rest of us don't give a shit how skilled the game is telling us we are, we just want to find the fun.

[pxib]

I would imagine something like "not losing your ship if it is destroyed" would set this entire forum ablaze in riot and protest.

You're all alone here.  The rest of us don't give a shit how skilled the game is telling us we are, we just want to find the fun.

I gotta go with Sheep. If the fix their current version of the game for the masses (watch your ship mine for six hours/watch yourself travel through space gates on autopilot/fiddle with spreadsheets for half an hour/log off to play something more exciting while your skills improve) then I wouldn't care if they got rid of the "you lose your ship when you die" part of the game. I don't think I lost a single ship before I stopped playing. If EVE 2 introduces some sort of map that points the masses towards a place where the game is worth playing, then it might have masses playing it... and the folks who hate easy fun could go right on playing EVE. Win/Win for CCP.

[Slayerik]

Regardless, they are doing something right. They have a lot of subs. Just because you don't find it fun doesn't make it so. I have a co-worker that loves mining after she wakes up. She has a cup of coffee, mines for like 30 minutes then goes to work. I'm not disagreeing with you, really, but it's pretty subjective.

As for GW2, I'm keeping my hopes contained, though it will probably be the first MMO I buy at launch since AoC.

[Malakili]

Regardless, they are doing something right. They have a lot of subs. Just because you don't find it fun doesn't make it so. I have a co-worker that loves mining after she wakes up. She has a cup of coffee, mines for like 30 minutes then goes to work.

Yeah, I always enjoyed mining in EVE as well.  It isn't "fun."  Let me repeat that, it is NOT fun.  However, it is quite relaxing and enjoyable.  It allows me to do something useful in the game while not having to stay 100% glued to the screen and have 100% of my focus on the game.  I can do a little reading, have a drink, catch up on the news, etc.  That sort of multi tasking, while still being able to do something useful is a nice change from say, raiding or even doing 5 mans in WoW, where you really need to be very engaged in the game for the entire duration.

As I read that over, I realize it is probably a odd sounding to a lot of people who think it isn't worth paying 15 bucks a month for that type of experience, but it definitely can be to a lot of people (though in terms of full disclosure, I'm not currently playing EVE right now, I tend to go back now and again)

[Zzulo]

I did not enjoy mining in EVE, really. Though getting together with 10 other guys and setting up an operation of mining with haulers, bodyguards etc was kind of neat. But yeah most of the time I just minimize while mining and check back every now and then while talking to guys over vent.

A friend of mine thought mining was "soothing", though, and he looked forward to any opportunity to set up mining ops. I wouldn't be surprised if there were people who seriously enjoyed mining as well. I guess not everything has to be "fun" per se, but can offer other qualities and aspects of entertainment for people. If an activity is stimulating or not is so heavily dependant on the individual

[Rasix]

 

[Ingmar]

Boy, Arenanet, you are indeed promising the moon here.  But I am interested in how close you're going to get.

I did see one mention of instancing in the this recent marketing blast, to whoever said something about GW not being instanced this time around.

What I actually said was it wasn't *all* going to be instanced. I'm sure dungeons and arenas and such will still be instances.

[Zzulo]

  Closer look at characters, female this time:  

[Sheepherder]

Regardless, they are doing something right. They have a lot of subs. Just because you don't find it fun doesn't make it so.

Obviously.  And throwing a bone to the people who just want nonstop exploding fighter craft wouldn't necessarily impact this.  But even that is irrelevant to complaining about the minutiae of balance changes in a game that hasn't entered closed beta yet.

[LK]

Closer look at characters, female this time:  

I think it's about time they started putting a cleavage stat on clothes.

[Slayerik]

Closer look at characters, female this time:  

I'll be in my bunk.








Come on, it had to be said :P

[Lantyssa]

I never left after the first release.  They're getting my hopes up.