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Post your concerns about GW2!
Homitu
Member UncommonPosts: 2,030
The goal of this thread is to compile a list of real concerns about GW2 specifically, given information already available about the game. Try to refrain from simply stating your disagreement with some of Anet's already explained design philosophies. For example, Anet has already eliminated the possiblity for open-world pvp, citing its incompatibility with their dynamic event system. If open world pvp is one of your primary reasons for playing an MMO and you do not intend to play GW2 because of it's lack of open world pvp, then this thread is not for you. This thread is for MMO fans, GW fans, and GW2 fanboys who are extremely excited by much of the info Anet has unveiled thus far, but who are objective enough to take a step back for a second and contemplate some of the potential consequences that may arise from Anet's otherwise awesome design philosophies.
At its highest value, a thread like this should be a valuable resource for Anet's developers to help refine their game.
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I'll get the ball rolling with a few of my major concerns:
1. That their idea of "dynamic content" = nothing more than "rifts" with context.
In my opinion, Rift is one very very tiny step in the right direction of creating "dynamic" worlds that undergo crises that bring players together. Rift succeeds in fluidly uniting players under a common goal, but this goal turns out to be nothing more than an endless tab-target slugfest against hordes of demons, whether they be life, death, fire, sand or cotten candy demons (does it really make a difference?) The context for these rifts is revealed in the game's opening sequence and throughout the starter zone experience. Every rift thereafter has the same background context behind it. For myself (and several other players, based on their testimony on these forums and elsewhere), the first rift I did was very exciting. The second was cool as well. The third, a little less so. I soon found myself seeking to avoid rifts altogether.
My fear with GW2 is that the majority of events are all going to feel the same, the way that each Rift invasion feels (and essentially is) exactly the same. Almost every example and video of a dynamic event I've seen thus far involves either fending off an invasion by hordes of enemies (hmm sounds familiar), or you doing the invading. These both essentially involve the exact same gameplay (tab-target attack wave upon wave of mobs, using all your nifty abilities), but simply have different context behind them. Context is great. It's a nice step forward from something like Rift. "Quests" became so popular in MMOs a decade ago because they began to provide context to killing creatures or gathering items. Context gives you purpose beyond just leveling up and increasing your stats. But will GW2 offer more flavor with their events in addition to providing context for the genocide of the entire centaur race?
Now I do recall one other event, where players stumble upon an injured farmer who just wants to get some water from his well, which is currently confiscated by goblins, or trolls, or some creatures...probably centaurs. He wants you to fight them or scare them off and get him some water. As funny as it sounds to watch an army of 50 pissed off Charr march up a hill carrying water pails to go fetch some water, I do hope GW2's events offers a lot more variety than what they've revealed so far. There's just so much potential there!
2. How far do dynamic event chains extend?
I love that the events in GW2 have real consequences that temporarily alter the world around you, allowing access to different resources, npcs, mobs, rewards, (and possibly dungeons?) at different times. But do these world "phases" branch off into dozens of possibilities, or do the vast majority of dynamic events cycle back and forth between 2-3 circumstances? I recall hearing about the former early on when GW2 news was just beginning to trickle, but haven't heard any examples since. Instead, almost every example has been of a tug-o-war contest over a poor village. I also recently saw a map of a GW2 zone that indicated all the dynamic event flows in the zone which scared me. (I can't recall where I saw it, or I'd link it.) It appeared to show around 14 different event chains, each having no more than 2-4 cyclical possibilities.
3. Difficulty.
Because dynamic events are designed to instantly bring massive numbers of random players together, by nature, the events must not require a significant amount of precise coordination among those players, who will undoubtedly be of various skill levels. Aside from the most basic coordination commands like "The town's being attacked from the north! Everyone run there now!" or "Focus the big guy!" these events, like rifts, often devolve into free-for-all chaos with each player spamming his/her own abilities. I fear it may almost feel exactly like solo gameplay, except with the ambiance of a dozen other players fighting around you. (An additional consequence is that you lose the cause > effect satisfaction derived from the "hehe, I did that!" of solo play. In the chaos of mass group events like Rifts, it can be difficult to discern the effects of your attacks, or if it was even you who killed that mob over there. In fact, you can usually just stand still, doing nothing at all, or run around like a clown, and the other 30 players in the area will get the job done just fine.)
Anyway, you get my point. I'm afraid that the entire dynamic event system, which will likely comprise the majority of the leveling system and which has the potential to be amazingly fun, can become a complete snoozefest. And without requiring advanced coordination tactics, it's hard to increase the difficulty aside from increasing the enemies' health and damage, as seen in several of the videos from Pax East last weekend.
As a side note, their dungeon philosophy sounds amazing. I love the story mode > dynamic mode versions of the dungeon, and I love that they are supposed to be significantly more difficult than anything found in the open world, AND that they each offer a unique full set of beautiful looking gear, adding a visual pristige factor into running dungeons.
4. Centaurs everywhere!
Are centaurs the primary antagonists of the GW2 world? Seroiusly, ask anyone, especially an ANet developer, to give an example of a GW2 dynamic event, and I guarantee you'll hear about centaurs invading something. I think they should just rename GW2 to "Man vs. Manhorse."
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Anyway, let the productive theoretical critique commence!
Before the "this game isn't even in Beta yet, how can you critique it?" comments start rolling in, this thread isn't about that. The potential good implications that the systems and design philosophies of GW2 could have on the MMO experience are plentiful, and they have been discussed excitedly and extensively by fans. The purpose of this thread is to promote discussion about some of the potential negative implications of these same systems, with the ultimate hope that an increased awareness and dialogue about these fears among the MMO community, here and elsewhere (namely, on GW2's forums), can contribute to Anet's refinement process, thereby minimzing the realization of these very negative implications.
Comments
My concerns are people coming up with posts like this. All of your so called concerns have been answered many times in the videos and info released.
The events are the game, they are the quests. So I am pretty sure they have done what they need to.
Hasn't this thread been made serveral times. Anyway there's even some active threads dealing with complaints don't really see the need for another one. Just your complaints in one of those.
*mumbles something about no open world pvp, racial factions meaning nothing in pvp, teleporting everywhere, sidekicking and scaling difficulty breaking progress perception, basic crafting, public harvesting node mats explosion and wonders where the mounts are*
Sorry.
My brand new bloggity blog.
My main concern is that traditional mmo players won't be able to adapt to the absence of normal quests, the absence of the trinity, the skill bar, the emphasis on movement and postioning etcetc. Some GW2 fans have said that it would be better if the traditional mmo players will not play GW2 but that's a lot of money Anet would be missing, especially since GW2's money has to come primarily from box sales. On the other hand I hope that people who usually play fps games, action games and other games like that and who until now stayed away from the mmo genre will like the game.
1. Comparing Rift with GW2 is just silly. I haven't played it, but as far as I know, the events in Rift are nothing more than random enemies spawning into map X trying to capture everything. GW2 dynamic events are more than just defending / attacking.
2. Those are probably the most common events.
3. They've already stated that a player "running like a clown" is not really participating, thus difficulty is not affected by him.
4. Centaurs are primary antagonists of humans, but only at low level areas. There are 4 other races as well.
Mounts. That is all.
My theme song.
My concerns are Trolls..
Currently playing: Elder Scrolls Online
MMORPG experiences:EQ2, AoC(pre f2p), Lotro,GW1,DDO, Aion,WoW( stop with wotlk),Allods, GW2
Eu,War, Secret World
Waiting On: WoD Sometime Maybe: Elder Scrolls MMO, Might and Magic
Bah, thats what I was going to post... instead I will say ................ ^This
This for me too.
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
This 2 lol, and the fact that my laptop may not be able to run the game.
No concerns, because its $50 for a persistent world to run around in whenever I like and wrack up 50, 80, 100, 1000+ hrs or more. Its the same cost as a regular PC title, and $10 cheaper than most the console titles that offer a whopping 5-10hrs of gameplay. And it'll be somethign to do on the side of whatever else I'll be playing...prolly SW:TOR or Tera.
Hahahah. I was like.....YES! Everytime I hear about a dynamic event it has centaurs in it! Manhorses!!!!! Completely hilarious,
I don't share your concerns but I completely agree with you. They always give an example with centaurs in it. Prolly because they are only talking about this one event all the time
Kinda annoying really.....
My biggest concern really. I don't know if my lappy will be able to run it even though it's only a year old and it's supposed to be a gaming lappy... And I am not buying a new laptop until I graduate from uni! I am too poor/stingy to buy a new one @_@
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.
I don't understand the mount concern at all. Maybe they can give you a pony on a stick or something.
No real concerns at the moment. I'll wait until all of the information has been released before making any judgements.
I think people just like personal modes of transportation over running and warping everywhere. Not really game breaking for me. just something I would enjoy.
My theme song.
Why don't you understand? Take any MMO game out there, traveling on foot all the time will be really painful. Yea I know there are teleports available, but I still think even after teleport it might take long time to actually get to the objective site. This is what I think.
In some vidoes above concern has been issue, atleast I thought so. But then in other videos mount seemed unnecessary.
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 suppose since I've played Guild Wars that it doesn't bother me in the least about traveling on foot. If they do have mounts I hope it is more like the AoC variety rather than WoWs implimentation. Make it useful other than just a speed boost.
Exactly my thoughts. IF they were to put mounts in, I'd like them to be like AoC's or not at all.
I don't know. I like the scenery around Kessex Peak in GW. It's nice but I wont walk/fight my way all the way back out to it.
My theme song.
What are the mounts in AoC like?
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.
They were only good for speed boost when traveling. You could attack from them but mounted combat was terrible.
Oh and jumping to hard to reach places.
{mod edit - image resized}
My theme song.
Hard to explain, better to play it and see. But each mount felt differently. The mammoth really felt like a huge cumbersome beast that it really is, it turned slower than a horse and didn't quite run as fast. However, it had some abilities that the horse didn't have such as trampling an oponent. The way each mount felt it really felt like a mount with the controls and the way it turned rather than just a speed boost like so many other mmos have. In addition you could fight while on a mount to a certain degree.
Pretty much only good for speed but they had much character and realism than in other games I've played. I do wish the combat could have been improved while mounted.
My only concerns are how they are going to break through the wall of preconceptions that people have about what is and isn't possible in a game. The OP is a good example. He's clearly put off by the concepts that ANet is introducing, so much so that he felt the need to craft a rather lengthy and fairly well-written troll post to attempt to cast doubt on the game. If he was genuinely curious, he would have had his answer through a little bit of research.
It's funny and sad how much fear this game causes to some folks. The idea of doing anything differently is anathema to their existence.
Basically this:
Mounts in AoC...well they were realistic first and foremost, I didn't pay much attention to the mounted combat but from what I remember the mounts had excellent animations, when you would summon them they would come from the back of the screen which helps with immersion and they wouldn't start with 100% speed right from the get-go.
Ah yeah, the mounting animations were top notch. I remember playing it the same day as I played Rift and it was a stark contrast between the two.