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Guild Wars 2: ArenaNet Blog Kicks Off with MMO Design Manifesto
MikeB
Community ManagerAdministrator RarePosts: 6,555
The official ArenaNet blog kicked off today with a post by ArenaNet studio head Mike O'Brien outlining the development team's design manifesto for Guild Wars 2, as well as discussing how it relates to the larger issue of MMO game design.
Mike starts out by giving us a bit of background on the company's history, stating that while they are happily celebrating the five year anniversary of Guild Wars this week, that this week also marks the 10 year anniversary for the studio itself. Mike also explains that Guild Wars was all about doing things differently, and this extended to the game's basic design concepts. Guild Wars didn't really take inspiration from D&D fantasy as most MMOs of the time did, instead, the game's roots were shared more with Magic: the Gathering.
Guild Wars was also nothing if not a bit controversial, as many gamers felt that it wasn't a true MMORPG. However, Mike O'Brien reassures us that this time Guild Wars 2 will definitely be a full fledged MMORPG:
The first thing you should know about Guild Wars 2 is that, this time around, there’s no question that it’s an MMORPG. It’s an enormous, persistent, living, social world, filled with a wide variety of combat and non-combat activities. There’s so much depth here that you’re never going to run out of new things to discover.
So if you love MMORPGs, you should check out Guild Wars 2. But if you hate traditional MMORPGs, then you should really check out Guild Wars 2. Because, like Guild Wars before it, GW2 doesn’t fall into the traps of traditional MMORPGs. It doesn’t suck your life away and force you onto a grinding treadmill; it doesn’t make you spend hours preparing to have fun rather than just having fun; and of course, it doesn’t have a monthly fee.
Mike then goes on to detail three of the main issues with MMO game design and just what ArenaNet is doing with Guild Wars 2 to address them.
The first issue is the fact that most MMORPGs don't quite embody that whole "RPG" bit too well. Like Bioware's Star Wars: The Old Republic, ArenaNet is putting an emphasis on story in Guild Wars 2. Players will begin their journey by filling out a biography with details that set you on your path in the game's storyline, and these choices will play heavily into taking the storyline in different directions, offering players a new experience each time they go through the game's storyline content.
That storyline content will play out differently as well. Everyone is familiar with the "?" or "!" symbols denoting a quest giver by now, and as Mike explains, it's pretty hard to get into the storyline when a village is being attacked by bandits and the villager asking for your help is simply standing there motionless waiting for you to click on him and accept the quest to defeat the bandits. Guild Wars 2 does away with that. You can stand by and watch the village burn as the bandits chase down and murder the villagers and set their homes ablaze, or you can take a stand and help them in their time of need. Whatever your choice, ArenaNet promises there will be consequences to your actions that will impact the game world in a dynamic way.
The second key component of Guild Wars 2 is enhancing the social experience, something the developers at ArenaNet feel is sorely lacking in many MMO games, as we are often punished for participating in social activities. From the sounds of it, Guild Wars 2 will capitalize on the precedent set by Warhammer Online's public quests system through the use of "world objectives" which allow players to just naturally play with each other to defeat a common foe or accomplish a common task. Players participating in world content, such as rescuing a village from bandits will all be rewarded as well, and this is regardless of whether or not you are partied up. In fact, players who are "seriously involved" in any given monster kill will receive 100% of the XP and loot.
Rounding things out, the third and final item mentioned in Mike's post is something everyone is surely curious about: combat. On a basic level, Guild Wars 2 will feature the flexible CCG-like combat system that the original Guild Wars made use of, with some key differences being that the developers are focusing on making combinations of abilities much easier to identify visually:
The big difference is that now skills are much more visual in explaining what they do. The process of actually discovering combos, or understanding them when they’re used against you, is a lot more clear, because you can visually see how skills combo with each other. An Elementalist can cast Fire Wall next to an opponent, and then switch to Water attunement, which freezes all enemies around him. Using the concussive force of Water Trident, he can slam his frozen enemy into the Fire Wall, leaving him to roast in the flames.
Your choice of race will greatly impact your combat options as well, such as the fact that the Norn have the ability to transform into a bear. Players will also be able to select and develop traits for their characters that offer even more customization than ever before. Traits such as Stone Boots for the Elementalist allow you to resist knockbacks for example.
What really stands out, however, is the way the aforementioned combos play out in groups:
And like the original GW, in GW2 the creativity doesn’t end with your own character. When you play with others, you’ll find that your abilities can complement theirs, and that you can discover new skill combos and strategies between professions. So if you’re playing an Elementalist, try casting a fire wall, and then see what happens when your friends shoot projectiles through it
Toasty! Instant fire arrows anyone?
ArenaNet didn't stop there either, Guild Wars 2 will also feature a ton of environmental weapons. This includes anything from purchasing a jar of bees from a beekeper to use in combat, to using a boulder a Stone Elemental throws at you to create a meteor storm as an Elementalist.
In the end, Guild Wars 2's combat will be about having fun from moment to moment, and not preparing to have fun, something this writer has been personally kvetching about for years.
Read the full post here for additional details.
What do you think of the direction ArenaNet is taking Guild Wars 2? Let us know in the comments below!
Comments
Can't wait *__*
Although I addmit those graphics needs some polish =P
It is going to be one of the best mmos out there unfortunately we still have to wait l.
Sounds amazing. I've been waiting for a "fun" mmorpg for a while now. The original Guild Wars was pretty decent, but there were some issues I had with it. Those issues seem to be rectified with Guild Wars 2. I can't wait to get my hands on it.
Playing - Minecraft, 7 Days To Die, Darkfall:ROA, Path of Exile
Waiting for -
i want to see guild wars raise to most anticipated game here on this site NOW
This sounds incredible. The dynamic nature of the world will be something really amazing, something unique. I have a feeling this is the game I will be playing for many years to come:)
O.O
Please let this be the game that will break the streak of crappy mmos that devs have given us for quite some time now.
We can only hope for the best....
Exciting. Let's hope its not just hyperbole!
gah! the combat sounds amazing!
RPG stuff is awesome. I am glad Bioware and ArenaNet both GET it. I love the background idea.
And thank god that we are finally getting a move away from "!" quests. I want a game where you respond to what is happening and then it responds to you. Looks like GW2 is going to have that. It's about time and makes more quite excited by GW2. Exciting and fun stuff.
Again like Bioware it sounds like they also understand that the social experience and community are matters of GAME MECHANICS. As such the Devs have to make sure the game mechanics make that stuff fun and rewarding and encourage that behavior -- lots of games fail by being solo-friendly and then also punishing people who want to be social with lack of challenges and so forth. The importance of Devs grokking this cannot be underestimated. It means that if there are problems with the community they'll look at it as a design problem and approach it accordingly rather than shrugging and blaming the players.
GW2 is starting to look as exciting to me as ToR. I am sure they'll do quite well since anyone can play an MMO with a sub AND GW2 if they want. I certainly plan on doing that.
Nice article.
"...So much of traditional MMO combat is rote and repetitive. You execute the same strategy over and over again, just augmented over time with better and better gear. After a while it starts to feel like you’re playing a spreadsheet."
The sad reality of many of todays MMO's...
Being a GW player since it's release and still playing, i'm confident Anet will deliver an interesting and polished game when it comes to content and gameplay quality.
MORTAL COMBAT!
That´s some very insteresting news, strong words/promisses there, makes me anxious to see all the picture when its about to lunch.
ps: yet NO classes announced =x
now: GW2 (11 80s).
Dark Souls 2.
future: Mount&Blade 2 BannerLord.
"Bro, do your even fractal?"
Recommends: Guild Wars 2, Dark Souls, Mount&Blade: Warband, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.
Just when we thought MMOs are heading towards the grave , there comes Guild Wars 2.
Long awaited breath of fresh air!
AMAZING!
If there are any gaming gods out there, please let them shine their light on this creation.
It sounds so beautiful
Hehe, burning village and pillaging bandits. I'm instantly reminded of Battle Realms where an exact same event decided your faction throughout the rest of the game. Interesting take on things, although this whole "3rd option" seems like just a more lax and freeform PQ system familiar to us from WAR.
Combat changes and avaliable usable tactics, on the other hand, will be simply mindblowing if implemented consistently and well.
So how long before Blizzard announces combo type skills for WoW, like when they introduced arenas to stop pvpers from going to Guild Wars.
Ya, I could see that happening easily...
GW2 sounds like a MMO revolution tbh. Think of having NO Kill X quests in all future MMOs :O
Whenever i step outside, somebody claims to see the light
It seems to me that all of us have lost our patience.
'cause everyone thinks they're right,
And nobody thinks that there just might
Be more than one road to our final destination--
Very awesome stuff. Sounds even better then the last time I heard it.
sounds very good and very promising not sure how much i care about being spoon fed a story of my character. would rather develope my own backstory instead of choosing it,
but the combat and the social fighting system sounds pretty cool.
Totally agreed, after all these years I am finally looking forward to an mmo and even now I know I will be buying the collectors edition.
Waiting on Guild Wars 2
I enjoyed the fresh air that was GW1 but I had been sorta disappointed with GW2 until reading this. I am so excited for it now, I hope they succeed and push MMORPGs to the next level. This is where MMORPGs were headed before WoW pulled them back by making so much $$ with such a linear basic experience.
Play as your fav retro characters: cnd-online.net. My site: www.lysle.net. Blog: creatingaworld.blogspot.com.
Frankly they don't have time to do it for Cataclysm. That gives a large window for GW2 and TOR to make headway and change what MMOs are about. Frankly Blizzard is going to have problems because they haven't done much to make story a big deal like it is in traditional MMOs (this is as huge as anything else that is coming to MMOs). As for new skills, well that will take a lot of design work and it doesn't look like WoW will have anything like that until AT BEST the expansion after Cataclysm. Frankly, I look at a lot of what WoW is doing and there's really nothing innovative. A lot of the changes down the road are as much about making things easier for the WoW devs as anything else. There's a lot of streamlining and/or expansion of systems, but Cataclysm isn't going to have any really new in it.
Also, it will be hard to keep people from playing GW2 when it doesn't have a sub fee to fight with WoW over.
Whee!!
Major whee, yes ^_^
2011 will be a great MMO year with all the interesting MMO's that will appear
Go ArenaNet!
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Elementalist is in guys:
So there you go, first class announced.