Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Am I the only one to actually like the world instancing of GW?
Vesavius
Member RarePosts: 7,908
Now, will stay before I start that i love open worlds for sandboxes, ideal, but for thempark games I very much support the heavy use of instancing. To my mind different play aims demand different world models.
I liked the instanced/ hub design model of GW... it might not have technically been a MMO, but that to me is a plus not a minus. Heavy instancing enabled it to tell a story that felt like mine and pulled me in to immerse me. adventures feel like REAL adventures and journeys feel like REAL journeys (not killing pigs in a farmyard 10ft from the quest giver, alongside 10 other solo players... yes, I am looking at you Rift).
I havent understood the need for a shared world in a themepark game for a long time... I don't need to see other players running around and killing rats to feel validated or 'part of something', especially in modern quest grinders where no one talks or groups in open world content (except for a few in the global chat channel, which is another thread entirely).
I really like the GW model of hubs for a thempark game, with the option to share my game world with only people that I choose to, and the uncluttered often epic feeling that it gives that me and my group are doing something special in the world.
In a game model (themeparks) that rely on story telling to deliver their full experience I have yet to find one that delivers it more effectively then GW does, and thats (imo) in a large part due to it's heavy use of instancing.
My single fear for GW2 right now is that the open world portion will be so heavily focused on that I will be stuck for the main in a game full of zerg PQs and barrens chat and the instanced world content will be limited to my 'personal story' and dungeons.
Is no one else a little concerned about this? or am I the only fan of the instanced world model?
Comments
I appreciate the chained stories and immersion of the campaigns, but for some of us shallow questing is a small price to pay for good socialising, like RIFT has, he he.
Besides constant instance loading vs. Rift's seamless world, I know which I find more immersive.
Having said that I do know what you mean, I enjoy GW1, but I feel the absence of other players, and feel no need to return constantly, the world can wait. I get along with the guild/alliance but I have yet to meet any of them in “person” as I am doing all the lvling solo.
I think ArenaNet agree with you on immersive questing which is why they have come up with their Dynamic Events system, so that we can have the chained quests in an open world. If they pull it off, you can have you cake and eat it, we shall see. I must admit though I love RIFT, and have little patience for the whiney haters that clog up these forums, but the one problem I have with the game is that it is not Guild Wars 2. The music and art alone has made me fall in love with the game already.
I like how you emphasize "It has solo players killing pigs in a field." "solo players being auto grouped for rift zergs."
Basically Rift is a solo zergs killing pigs in a sight of field. I don't find Rift to be compelling to Social players.
I think game NEEDS to bring in stuff so those who actually want to be social, can be social naturally.
There needs to be elements so regrouping becomes necessary and therefore promotin social behavior.
Rift is nothing more then, as this person put it: "solo zerg killing pigs" (in field of sight).
Guild Wars 2's 50 minutes game play video:
http://n4g.com/news/592585/guild-wars-2-50-minutes-of-pure-gameplay
Everything We Know about GW2:
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/287180/page/1
I genuinely don't care at all whether the gameplay is instanced or not; it's just not important to me at all. But so many people seem to feel so strongly opposed to it that I'm happy to cite GW2's new model to them so they don't just write it off on the basis of how GW1 did things.
On the upside for you if you prefer the instanced content, you don't have to do any of the DEs other than what might be on the way from one personal storyline quest to the next, just as you didn't have to do any non-"Primary" quests in GW1.
yeah, thats true, but I hate missing out content lol
Thats also at the core of my concern though I guess... I just hope the instanced personal portion of the game is robust enough to give me the same 'epic adventurer on a journey' feeling GW often gives me, because seeing other adventurers (usually dressed the same as me and doing the same thing...) evey 10ft isnt good for that imo.
Don't get me wrong, the PQs look fun, they look epic, I will def play them, I just hope I am not forced into a solo PQ zerg with barrens chat for the bulk of the game
I guess I don't want them to throw out what makes GW so special to me and replace it with 'standard MMORPG'.
I hope Diablo 3 is basically like GW1 where the cities are hubs and the worlds instanced.
Remember Old School Ultima Online
I understand
. It's definitely true that maybe some of us GW2 fans are so eager to "win over" players of more traditional MMOs (who use "not an MMO" as a perjorative slur) that we might lose sight of the ways in which that might have made GW1 a better experience than tradtional MMOs. I hope there's plenty to please both camps in GW2!
Let's see...I'll take an interesting personal storyline and a very fun and social way to level up where every mob you kill counts for something rather than a very boring and uninspiring way to level up which while it is wholy persistent you simply do everything alone and if not then you have someone else besides you who tries to ks from you and vica versa. Plus some so called dynamic events that do nothing more than interupt your questing and killin' your quest hubs, which btw if you are alone in the hub you are totally screwed and bound to wait for them to despawn.
That was my little rant and yes, I like where GW2 works instanced and where it works persistently.
CORPGs have their good side as well.
But you can still play instanced stuff in GW2 like the personal story so I vote for GW2, more choices is usually better.
As long as the personal story isn't like the destiny quests in AoC with a quest every 5 or 10 levels of course.
I am looking forward to GW2 myself.
Personally I hope there is enough variety in the market to cover everyone's tastes.
I want to remind people about DDO and how much hate it received at the time for being based on adventure modules instead of one persistent world. Now it seems that we are moving towards that design in small leaps and some people finally see the advantages of such a design.
I didnt mind GW1 instancing. PSO and Diablo did it before anet and all 3 are solid titles.
GW2 will be fully open which is nice though. The teleporting around is kind of lame but w/e.
Well, I think we are all looking forward to it, this thread is in no way suggesting not to
It is just voicing a niggle is all, and a worry in the back of my mind whenever I read about the open portions.
The trouble with 'choice' is that it always comes in games at the expense of something else... What I have highlighted in your post is exactly what I fear tbh.
A light personal story, updated with a private quest every 5 levels or so, with a heavy focus on open world PQ grinding and group dungeons would be the worst possible situation in GW2 for me personally and would be, imo, taking a step back for the GW IP in terms of what it achieved in it's gameplay model, making it more generic MMORPG (with all the issues a game inherits when it adopts that model).
Do any of you guys who have been watching this closely for a long time have any idea of the divide ratio between public and instanced play?
Will I be able to share my personal story with a friend (as I can share the instances in GW whenever I want)? Or will I have to play in the open world to do that? I duo a lot (mostly actually) and would hate to be able to that only when doing the PQs (not that they will require grouping).
Actually... saying that, thinking about it... IF the personal story is strictly solo, and the PQs are also solo (group solo, but still solo), then is the only group content the dungeons?
This would also be a worry due to the dungeons (probably?) requiring a full group... this would mean zero duo friendly content, which would be a hit for us here. Having to solo or go full group, with nothing in between, would not be a good thing
DDO was a head of it's time. I never had an issue with it's world build personally.
I personally think town hubs with instanced content zones is an ideal model for themepark CRPGs and enable so much more to be done in terms of content and story.
I mean, I would hate to see it in Arche Age lol, but for GW it works brilliantly imo.
There is something very satisfying about being able to kill every mob in a zone & then just wandering around taking in the scenery at my leisure . No respawns makes me feel like I have conquered the area . Some people hate instancing with a passion ( to each their own ) but I think that it definitely has its place , especially when it comes to story telling in a game .
Even though it is your own story it dusnt mean you have to solo it, you can share your story with others if you group up.
Or group up with someone else to see his/her side of the story and get more insight of the story line
I still remember you, you are the one that comes here to troll from time to time...well have fun this time ^^ Im glad I will not get into this
"It has potential"
-Second most used phrase on existence
"It sucks"
-Most used phrase on existence
The personal story do scale just as dynamic events so you can bring a full group to them if you like to.
Eric have commented on this several times and Jeff (Grub, not strain) have also said it so it is in.
I know, I feel the same.
When we reach a new explorable area we really enjoy loading up on quests, filling the zone up with their mobs, and then gradually work our way down them, pacifying the area. It's fun to feel like you have actually impacted a part of the world and it's maybe a better place for it's virtual citizens.
Themeparks are by definition built on story telling and I think thats why GWs instancing works so well for me. It's just miles ahead of more modern games such as Rift in it's sense of adventure and journey imo. Hell, it's the first game since EQ (and VG) where I feel like any of the quests actually has a real journey to it... That the travel is as important as the end goal. It must be doing something right.
Thats confirmed? excellent news. If personal stories can be shared and represent a decent portion of the gameplay then I will be happy enough
Quoted from Anets blog
Helping Others
Although each character's story is personal, a player can choose to invite friends along. By doing so, that player allows others to help them achieve their goals and watch their story as it evolves. A character's story is designed to be fun for a solo player, but can also scale up, much like events, to allow for a group to participate. Friends can assist each other to complete their goals - and by doing so, see different parts of the Guild Wars 2 story that they might not have seen in their own tale.
Dinams, I had one thread here challenging the 'B2P' tag of this game, and asking the straight question about the impact of the game's cash shop and how far we can trust the influence of NCS with it in a new game. It was a honest thread, with valid questions based on NCS's known approach with their newer games, but sure (as per normal with these boards) the fans went into 'burn the troll!!' mode (as your doing now in fact) because I dared question a single aspect of their game.
But look, are you even reading this thread? How is this even close to 'trolling'? Please look at what your commenting on before, y'know, commenting. Theres no need to continue the attacks of a previous thread, lets just let that go and move on. I have decided to trust Arenanet to resist NCS more exploitative demands, theres no need to carry on old grudges.
World instancing takes away from the MMO feel in my opinion. While I can see some good in the design, it really serves to destroy that 'community'/multi-player feel.
I can buy a single-player RPG and enjoy that any time. But when I play an MMO, I really expect to be engaged with other players for a good portion of my gameplay session. And really, it's playing with others and the development of relationships that keeps me playing the game.
If I get bored with a game that I play solo... I quit for a while, or I may quit entirely and simply move on. It's pretty easy to do that when it's just 'me' that's involved. But... if I play a game where I'm an active member of a guild, team, etc.,... then I'm likely to stick around even if the game is currently offering a less-than-optimal experience. Why? The relationships and social aspect. Even if I've reached a plateau in my gaming experience, I will look to help guildies and friends achieve their objectives and invest my in-game time in other ways for a while.
Obviously if a game fails to come up with something to peak my interest after a while, I will end up quitting. But for the most part, I would say the relationships I make do tend to extend my playtime much longer than any single player RPG game could.
Thanks for the quote, I hadnt seen that.
thats one half of my worry laid to rest now... now fingers crossed that its not just one quest every 5 levels or somthing ><
nice one thread creator.
not often do people have an opinion and arguments to back it up.
and i totally agree with you by the way.
yes open world mmos are great, but some things they just absolutely fail that.
lets take the wow model for example. like you say 'killing pigs in the field'. to me it looks more like baby ducks following mother duck.
only later on and only somewhat can you fail some kind of immersion.
you go around, exploring the beautiful world (yet you are not awarded for just enjoying the world, not some boring blatant quest) and you can find random people. sometimes its enemies, you can gank them.
only if you are immersed you can think 'oh its the enemy, ill see what he does and attack him'.
in reality 'oolololo i know that quest, i did it before, ill troll him'.
i made only a handful random friends in world of warcraft.
made many in the journey of prophecies campaign in gw.