I don't believe the OP was being a troll, just asking a question from the way he see's things. I think the most fairest way to compare GW2, is not to compare it to GW but more to game like RIFT.
Fantasy Setting - Rift : Yes, GW2 : Yes
Dynamic events - Rift : Yes, Done one done them all, GW2 : Yes, Looks like, Done one done them all
Grpahics - Rift : Nice but nothing great, GW2 : Nice but nothing great
PVP - Rift : warzones, GW2 : World vs world plus warzones
Questing - Rift : same as most others, marks over npcs head, GW2 : no marks over any npcs head
crafting - Rift : same old same old, GW2 : same old same old
So really, the op did have a point. When you sit back and compare just a little, with a new game. GW2 and the hype that is being thrown at it, seems a little ridiculous.
Thats a rather pitiful and extremely inaccurate comparison.
I don't believe the OP was being a troll, just asking a question from the way he see's things. I think the most fairest way to compare GW2, is not to compare it to GW but more to game like RIFT.
Fantasy Setting - Rift : Yes, GW2 : Yes
Dynamic events - Rift : Yes, Done one done them all, GW2 : Yes, Looks like, Done one done them all
Grpahics - Rift : Nice but nothing great, GW2 : Nice but nothing great
PVP - Rift : warzones, GW2 : World vs world plus warzones
Questing - Rift : same as most others, marks over npcs head, GW2 : no marks over any npcs head
crafting - Rift : same old same old, GW2 : same old same old
So really, the op did have a point. When you sit back and compare just a little, with a new game. GW2 and the hype that is being thrown at it, seems a little ridiculous.
Thats a rather pitiful and extremely inaccurate comparison.
Really. then you break it down and you will see that it's not anything to garner this much hype.
I don't believe the OP was being a troll, just asking a question from the way he see's things. I think the most fairest way to compare GW2, is not to compare it to GW but more to game like RIFT.
Fantasy Setting - Rift : Yes, GW2 : Yes
Dynamic events - Rift : Yes, Done one done them all, GW2 : Yes, Looks like, Done one done them all
Grpahics - Rift : Nice but nothing great, GW2 : Nice but nothing great
PVP - Rift : warzones, GW2 : World vs world plus warzones
Questing - Rift : same as most others, marks over npcs head, GW2 : no marks over any npcs head
crafting - Rift : same old same old, GW2 : same old same old
So really, the op did have a point. When you sit back and compare just a little, with a new game. GW2 and the hype that is being thrown at it, seems a little ridiculous.
Yes, if you have no idea about the game that's how it works.
pros: -great graphics -great combat mechanics -large scale pvp -great original score -interesting quest system -underwater exploration -mini games like bar fights
cons: -just another fantasy game -arenas/esport -shallow crafting -unfortunately all pvp is instanced and separate from the DE system -no player housing, cannot craft anything non combat related -just another combat centric mmo -teleporting all around the map once you discover the waypoints -invisible walls -node farming style of gathering
take it for what you will, these are just my personal preference and opinions. some people will think that some of my cons are pros but to each their own.
I don't believe the OP was being a troll, just asking a question from the way he see's things. I think the most fairest way to compare GW2, is not to compare it to GW but more to game like RIFT.
Fantasy Setting - Rift : Yes, GW2 : Yes
Dynamic events - Rift : Yes, Done one done them all, GW2 : Yes, Looks like, Done one done them all
Grpahics - Rift : Nice but nothing great, GW2 : Nice but nothing great
PVP - Rift : warzones, GW2 : World vs world plus warzones
Questing - Rift : same as most others, marks over npcs head, GW2 : no marks over any npcs head
crafting - Rift : same old same old, GW2 : same old same old
So really, the op did have a point. When you sit back and compare just a little, with a new game. GW2 and the hype that is being thrown at it, seems a little ridiculous.
Thats a rather pitiful and extremely inaccurate comparison.
True, but it's also one that could easily be made by someone mildly curious about the game and is unwilling to look beneath the surface. However, for anyone who has actually done their homework and researched the game to see what it's really about, that kind of comparison would be as a result of either willful ignorance or the pursuit of trolldom.
It's not difficult to make poor assumptions about the game when you're not keenly interested to start with. Not all of the new concepts make it immediately apparent how different they are to the established norm. In fact, how many of us who follow GW2 spent much of our time debating, analyzing and re-analyzing the mechanics before we actually understood them? It's not hard to see why a somewhat interested newcomer might not grasp them immediately either, then do what is completely natural and try to identify the concepts with what's familiar to them. It's pigeonholing and we all do it to some extent.
I don't believe the OP was being a troll, just asking a question from the way he see's things. I think the most fairest way to compare GW2, is not to compare it to GW but more to game like RIFT.
Fantasy Setting - Rift : Yes, GW2 : Yes
Dynamic events - Rift : Yes, Done one done them all, GW2 : Yes, Looks like, Done one done them all
Grpahics - Rift : Nice but nothing great, GW2 : Nice but nothing great
PVP - Rift : warzones, GW2 : World vs world plus warzones
Questing - Rift : same as most others, marks over npcs head, GW2 : no marks over any npcs head
crafting - Rift : same old same old, GW2 : same old same old
So really, the op did have a point. When you sit back and compare just a little, with a new game. GW2 and the hype that is being thrown at it, seems a little ridiculous.
Thats a rather pitiful and extremely inaccurate comparison.
Really. then you break it down and you will see that it's not anything to garner this much hype.
The settings are completely different. Not all fantasy settings are the same. You wouldn't say the world in Glen Cook's Black Company series is like Toril in Forgotten Realms would you?
The dynamic events are nothing alike. Rifts are just moving PQs that are an after-thought to break of the monotony of the pathetic questing. The DEs in GW2 have much more variety and move along chains that can branch off into different directions.
I admit that I don't know much about graphics but it more comes down the art style which I can tell you are nothing alike.
I personally haven't done any PvP in Rift but from what I know of it I can agree that it is mostly just battlegrounds. The PvP in GW2 is going to be 5v5 arena matches like in the first game and the WvWvW is week long battles between 3 servers that takes place on massive maps that contain fortresses and mines and villages.
The questing in Rift is mediocre. In GW2 the DEs are a complete replacement for quests and its not just simply "no marks over any npc's head" as the DEs happen on there own without any npc interaction and scale with the amount of people doing them so that they can be done alone or with a large amount of people. You also have your own personal storyline.
Crafting in Rift really is nothing different. Crafting in GW2, while not majorly different, allows you to find recipes on your own my mixing and matching ingredients and also removes the stupid bar that you have to wait to fill up.
I will go further than you and include some other things.
Combat: Rift is same old same old. GW2 has included a dodge mechanic and cross-class combos for more strategy, your weapons also determine your first five skills and therefore determine your play-style. You are also allowed to switch between weapon sets in mid-combat to completely change how go about the battle. There is also going to be underwater exploration that also has its own form of combat to make it more fun.
I don't believe the OP was being a troll, just asking a question from the way he see's things. I think the most fairest way to compare GW2, is not to compare it to GW but more to game like RIFT.
Fantasy Setting - Rift : Yes, GW2 : Yes
Dynamic events - Rift : Yes, Done one done them all, GW2 : Yes, Looks like, Done one done them all
Grpahics - Rift : Nice but nothing great, GW2 : Nice but nothing great
PVP - Rift : warzones, GW2 : World vs world plus warzones
Questing - Rift : same as most others, marks over npcs head, GW2 : no marks over any npcs head
crafting - Rift : same old same old, GW2 : same old same old
So really, the op did have a point. When you sit back and compare just a little, with a new game. GW2 and the hype that is being thrown at it, seems a little ridiculous.
Thats a rather pitiful and extremely inaccurate comparison.
Really. then you break it down and you will see that it's not anything to garner this much hype.
This is a comparison between the games in November or so, a lot has changed, in both I think, but I still feel GW2 isn't going to feel like a WOW clone. IMO Rift is just a WOW clone, with an extra spice. GW2 is trying to at least innovate instead of ripping off others entirely.
Gameinformer-(Edit for clarification: everything below on my post is from Gameinformer)
The Impending Dynamic Content Future
Nothing short of nuking Blizzard from orbit is going to stop World of Warcraft from chugging along and doing its thing, but the next generation of MMORPGs is nearly here. Dynamic PvE content - zones, quests, and objectives that change over time based on player actions - is one of the watchwords of the coming MMO landscape. Rift: Planes of Telara and Guild Wars 2 have dramatically different ways of approaching the concept. Which one fits your gaming taste?
Guild Wars 2
The event system in Guild Wars 2 is basically Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning's public quests taken to the extreme. The game doesn't have what we think of as "standard" MMO quests - all of the outdoor PvE content is tied into these events, which are happening all around you all the time. Events range from rescuing a farmer from bandits to teaming up with dozens of players and NPCs to take down a marauding death dragon.
Rift
Rift has large swathes of traditional MMO design with its signature rifts layered on top. These tears in the dimensional fabric of the world allow the malevolent forces of the elemental planes to enter the physical realm, wreaking havoc on the landscape and the wildlife in the process. If they continue unopposed by players, rifts escalate into full-scale invasions that can and will wreck entire cities until players deal with them.
It's tough to bet against Guild Wars 2. Developer ArenaNet has longstanding experiance creating and maintaining innovative, successful MMOs, and everything it has shown of Guild Wars 2 to date has been nothing short of incredible. On the other hand, upstart Trion is making a bold entry into online gaming with Rift, and I like what i've seen so far. I have to give the edge to Guild Wars 2 for now, but these are the top two non-Cataclysm MMOs on my radar for good reason.
Storyline Rift: epic storyline interspersed among regular quests telling overarching zone story Guild Wars 2: personal storyline dependent on race and other character choices, fully voiced, and further branching throughout the game.
Alt path variety Rift: 2 starting areas, one per faction. One storyline each. GW2: 5 starting areas, one per race. Branching and varied storylines within each racial story.
Quest design Rift: speak to npc, accept quest, complete quest, turn on quest. Exceptions during zone-wide invasions which are open-world events but do not replace quests Guild Wars 2: personal storyline largely advanced in instances for impactful decision-making. Open-world dynamic events in lieu of quests.
Cooperative mechanics Rift: public groups for shared quest objectives, mob tagging based on dps, harvesting nodes are every player for him/herself GW2: grouping unnecessary for aiding allies, ressing available to all, harvesting nodes and mobs cannot be "stolen"
Endgame Rift: traditional raiding endgame with gear-gating treadmill, raid rifts for more public encounters GW2: entire game does not change at endgame, same activities, multiple 5-man dungeons available game-wide. Stats on gear spread horizontally rather than vertically
Business model Rift: Box plus subscription fee; long term subscriptions at a discount GW2: box price enables you to play the base game forever: cash shop consisting of cosmetic items, content packs, and convenience items
Storyline Rift: epic storyline interspersed among regular quests telling overarching zone story Guild Wars 2: personal storyline dependent on race and other character choices, fully voiced, and further branching throughout the game. Alt path variety Rift: 2 starting areas, one per faction. One storyline each. GW2: 5 starting areas, one per race. Branching and varied storylines within each racial story. Quest design Rift: speak to npc, accept quest, complete quest, turn on quest. Exceptions during zone-wide invasions which are open-world events but do not replace quests Guild Wars 2: personal storyline largely advanced in instances for impactful decision-making. Open-world dynamic events in lieu of quests. Cooperative mechanics Rift: public groups for shared quest objectives, mob tagging based on dps, harvesting nodes are every player for him/herself GW2: grouping unnecessary for aiding allies, ressing available to all, harvesting nodes and mobs cannot be "stolen" Endgame Rift: traditional raiding endgame with gear-gating treadmill, raid rifts for more public encounters GW2: entire game does not change at endgame, same activities, multiple 5-man dungeons available game-wide. Stats on gear spread horizontally rather than vertically Business model Rift: Box plus subscription fee; long term subscriptions at a discount GW2: box price enables you to play the base game forever: cash shop consisting of cosmetic items, content packs, and convenience items
You are correct on many of your points except the fully voiced. Only one mmo can claim that and it's not GW2.
I don't believe the OP was being a troll, just asking a question from the way he see's things. I think the most fairest way to compare GW2, is not to compare it to GW but more to game like RIFT.
Fantasy Setting - Rift : Yes, GW2 : Yes
Dynamic events - Rift : Yes, Done one done them all, GW2 : Yes, Looks like, Done one done them all
Grpahics - Rift : Nice but nothing great, GW2 : Nice but nothing great
PVP - Rift : warzones, GW2 : World vs world plus warzones
Questing - Rift : same as most others, marks over npcs head, GW2 : no marks over any npcs head
crafting - Rift : same old same old, GW2 : same old same old
So really, the op did have a point. When you sit back and compare just a little, with a new game. GW2 and the hype that is being thrown at it, seems a little ridiculous.
Yes, if you have no idea about the game that's how it works.
A far better example for comparison would be Doom 3.
How is the game played: Doom 3 - Mouse and Keyboard Guild Wars 2 - Mouse and Keyboard.
So essentially GW2 is a singleplayer FPS game based on mars.
I don't believe the OP was being a troll, just asking a question from the way he see's things. I think the most fairest way to compare GW2, is not to compare it to GW but more to game like RIFT.
Fantasy Setting - Rift : Yes, GW2 : Yes
Dynamic events - Rift : Yes, Done one done them all, GW2 : Yes, Looks like, Done one done them all
Grpahics - Rift : Nice but nothing great, GW2 : Nice but nothing great
PVP - Rift : warzones, GW2 : World vs world plus warzones
Questing - Rift : same as most others, marks over npcs head, GW2 : no marks over any npcs head
crafting - Rift : same old same old, GW2 : same old same old
So really, the op did have a point. When you sit back and compare just a little, with a new game. GW2 and the hype that is being thrown at it, seems a little ridiculous.
As a person who has played both games (and yes I understand GW2 can change from now and when it is released) the play very different and feel very different. Rift as we all know plays very much like WoW and that is not a bad thing. The play style and game flow is very different in GW2. Things are must faster and fluid due to being more twitch based. The concept of not needing to be in a "group" to get credit for an event that multiple people worked together on, adds a huge amount of immersion to the world. And trust me if you see someone in an event you join in, you better work together. The event will scale up and if you don't have teamwork you will die. You don't need to "group" just need to work together and help each other. This might be a tough concept but I think it will do wonders for the community in the long run.
Also the events escalate and change depending on what happens. For instance you see a group of NPC and they what to push back some mob. As you help them you see seige towers and you get an update to take them out. You take them out then the enemies send out repair crews, now to you have an update to take out the repair crews. During this other players come by and this increases the spawn rates, you can't keep up with killing the repair crew and they build a few new towers. Now you are back to needing to destroy the towers and stop the repair crews, oh and the original request to push them back in the first place.
Opps I think I went of track a bit. I can't wait to play this game again.
I don't believe the OP was being a troll, just asking a question from the way he see's things. I think the most fairest way to compare GW2, is not to compare it to GW but more to game like RIFT.
Fantasy Setting - Rift : Yes, GW2 : Yes
Dynamic events - Rift : Yes, Done one done them all, GW2 : Yes, Looks like, Done one done them all
Grpahics - Rift : Nice but nothing great, GW2 : Nice but nothing great
PVP - Rift : warzones, GW2 : World vs world plus warzones
Questing - Rift : same as most others, marks over npcs head, GW2 : no marks over any npcs head
crafting - Rift : same old same old, GW2 : same old same old
So really, the op did have a point. When you sit back and compare just a little, with a new game. GW2 and the hype that is being thrown at it, seems a little ridiculous.
When you compare the basics, of course you are just going to get more of the same. By using your logic, GW2 is just another shooter because it has guns. When you look at the implementation, then you see how it's different. Remember, just looking at it, it looks like the same thing. I could also just as easily say GW2 is just like Morrowind because it has graphics.
The personal story is fully voiced. I did not claim the game itself was fully voiced.
Actually any non agressive NPC you can interact with in PvE will be fully voiced. There is over 60 full featured length movie dialogue within the game. You do not ever need to read text from NPCs. You will hear surrounding NPCs chat while walking around in cities and hear the screams and begging for help from NPCs that are under attack in the PvE areas. Also many of the more sentient mobs such as centuars will be voiced.
Enough dialogue for over 60 movies? I'd say that was fully voiced or near enough so.
I never played the initial Guild Wars ( no need to tell me to play it ) but what is all the excitement over? From my understanding GW had some pretty fun PvP (although instanced)? Isn't the game more or less a hub based instanced same ol' shit we've seen the past 10 years (if not even less open world?). I'm a PvPer at heart so you can understand most MMO out in recent years just aren't doing it. So, is GW2 still going to basically just be an instanced/hub based game?
I watched their interviews and PAX East, they used a lot of words like "dynamic" and this and that, promising all this stuff, but when you cut through all the fancy wording it's just more of the same. I was hoping someone here could tell me exactly all the hype around GW2..and why?
The first response you received is wrong. There will be a sort of Open World PvP done in the Mists. If you want a good example for this think about Dark Age of Camelot battlegrounds. You will go to these massive zones and you will battle over objectives and resource nodes against 2 other servers. So they are sort of implementing DAoC styled PvP, but instead of having 3 factions pitted against each other you get 3 servers. Also, you will have the Guild Wars traditional Arena styled PvP as well.
Storyline Rift: epic storyline interspersed among regular quests telling overarching zone story Guild Wars 2: personal storyline dependent on race and other character choices, fully voiced, and further branching throughout the game. Alt path variety Rift: 2 starting areas, one per faction. One storyline each. GW2: 5 starting areas, one per race. Branching and varied storylines within each racial story. Quest design Rift: speak to npc, accept quest, complete quest, turn on quest. Exceptions during zone-wide invasions which are open-world events but do not replace quests Guild Wars 2: personal storyline largely advanced in instances for impactful decision-making. Open-world dynamic events in lieu of quests. Cooperative mechanics Rift: public groups for shared quest objectives, mob tagging based on dps, harvesting nodes are every player for him/herself GW2: grouping unnecessary for aiding allies, ressing available to all, harvesting nodes and mobs cannot be "stolen" Endgame Rift: traditional raiding endgame with gear-gating treadmill, raid rifts for more public encounters GW2: entire game does not change at endgame, same activities, multiple 5-man dungeons available game-wide. Stats on gear spread horizontally rather than vertically Business model Rift: Box plus subscription fee; long term subscriptions at a discount GW2: box price enables you to play the base game forever: cash shop consisting of cosmetic items, content packs, and convenience items
You are correct on many of your points except the fully voiced. Only one mmo can claim that and it's not GW2.
Please don't attack the OP or make assumptions regarding the post.
[Mod Edit]
On topic (in case the OP actually cares to read up): Here is the page with LOADS of GW2 info and links to everything from gameplay videos to screenshots, to....info on the musical score and everything in between. It's a very thorough list of everything we actually KNOW for a fact about the game.....
I don't believe the OP was being a troll, just asking a question from the way he see's things. I think the most fairest way to compare GW2, is not to compare it to GW but more to game like RIFT.
Fantasy Setting - Rift : Yes, GW2 : Yes
Dynamic events - Rift : Yes, Done one done them all, GW2 : Yes, Looks like, Done one done them all
Grpahics - Rift : Nice but nothing great, GW2 : Nice but nothing great
PVP - Rift : warzones, GW2 : World vs world plus warzones
Questing - Rift : same as most others, marks over npcs head, GW2 : no marks over any npcs head
crafting - Rift : same old same old, GW2 : same old same old
So really, the op did have a point. When you sit back and compare just a little, with a new game. GW2 and the hype that is being thrown at it, seems a little ridiculous.
Thats a rather pitiful and extremely inaccurate comparison.
Really. then you break it down and you will see that it's not anything to garner this much hype.
This is a comparison between the games in November or so, a lot has changed, in both I think, but I still feel GW2 isn't going to feel like a WOW clone. IMO Rift is just a WOW clone, with an extra spice. GW2 is trying to at least innovate instead of ripping off others entirely.
Gameinformer-
The Impending Dynamic Content Future
Nothing short of nuking Blizzard from orbit is going to stop World of Warcraft from chugging along and doing its thing, but the next generation of MMORPGs is nearly here. Dynamic PvE content - zones, quests, and objectives that change over time based on player actions - is one of the watchwords of the coming MMO landscape. Rift: Planes of Telara and Guild Wars 2 have dramatically different ways of approaching the concept. Which one fits your gaming taste?
Guild Wars 2
The event system in Guild Wars 2 is basically Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning's public quests taken to the extreme. The game doesn't have what we think of as "standard" MMO quests - all of the outdoor PvE content is tied into these events, which are happening all around you all the time. Events range from rescuing a farmer from bandits to teaming up with dozens of players and NPCs to take down a marauding death dragon.
Rift
Rift has large swathes of traditional MMO design with its signature rifts layered on top. These tears in the dimensional fabric of the world allow the malevolent forces of the elemental planes to enter the physical realm, wreaking havoc on the landscape and the wildlife in the process. If they continue unopposed by players, rifts escalate into full-scale invasions that can and will wreck entire cities until players deal with them.
It's tough to bet against Guild Wars 2. Developer ArenaNet has longstanding experiance creating and maintaining innovative, successful MMOs, and everything it has shown of Guild Wars 2 to date has been nothing short of incredible. On the other hand, upstart Trion is making a bold entry into online gaming with Rift, and I like what i've seen so far. I have to give the edge to Guild Wars 2 for now, but these are the top two non-Cataclysm MMOs on my radar for good reason.
Ok for a start your Emergent and Variety are one in the same thing, 'dynamic content'. Rift is Dynamic in the fact that they appear at random and can interact with NPC characters. Guilds Wars is dynamic in that it plays more like a true RPG in that your decision will affect the future in a tangible way. Although Rift does that to a certain degree it is nothing but a scratch on the surface of what kind of events will be present and possible within the guild wars infrastructure. If you want to dumb it down enough then yes, it will sound the same.. so do a lot of things.
As for youre
'Rift - Innovative skill-tree unlocking and progression systems allow unprecedented customization.'
While that is true it is hardly a positive aspect
For a start most of the possible combinations are flat out pointless..unless you mean in a 'you would be as well not spending any points' kind of way. In fact, this is so precedented that ArenaNet as well as other developers (Another nice example was the game Fury) have already been there and done that only to find that all it does it offer a lot of nothing since the vast majority of the 'combinations' are pointless.
Instead this time around ArenaNet have decided that what they want to do is not offer you more, pointless, skills but offer you a greater degree of flexibility in utilizing fewer, better, different skills. They do this by introducing weapon switches, downed skills, chain attacks, combo attacks as well as other methods. They are injecting a level of flexability into the combat in such a way that has not been carried off successfully by a large scale AAA MMO for such a prolonged period of time.
This is without even taking into account that your Rift character, while utterly customizable to a huge degree, is as rigid and solid in flexability as any other character in any other MMORPG when you actually get into combat. Combined with the traditional auto attack combat system it leaves nothing but a bad taste in the mouth when you see past the smoke and mirrors. Not only that but by introducing so many possible skill combinations the developers will either be copying skill effects to a huge degree or just give up balancing the game entirely.
On top of this Guild Wars 2 also has the possibility to shake the foundation of the current MMO structure as a whole with not only its incredible focus on Revolution of gameplay as opposed to evolution but with something as basic as their payment model. No other AAA MMO has attempted to go for this payment method.. You are essentially paying for a single player game with constant content updates and paying nothing else until the expansion comes out. And not only does it have no monthly fee but it also has the distinct possibility to play and feel better than the paid for competition.
Guild Wars 2 is attempting to revolutionize the MMO genre as a whole at such an incredibly fundamental level of which the likes has not been seen since even well before WoW came out.
It is still a themepark MMO but it is more different than it is similar. This is what will buck the trend of current MMO gaming. This is the kind of game that will change everything and everyone. Even those playing their sub based MMO's will have to wonder why they are paying. This is the only game where the developers are looking to improve, in meaningful ways, on EVERY aspect of the genre as a whole rather than focus on the one or two 'new' ideas.
Scratch beneath the surface and have a look at the implications.
In all fairness, he did only post it a few hours ago, and if he lives on the west coast of the U.S. it would be right before school, so he may not have had a chance to get back.
I don't believe the OP was being a troll, just asking a question from the way he see's things. I think the most fairest way to compare GW2, is not to compare it to GW but more to game like RIFT.
Fantasy Setting - Rift : Yes, GW2 : Yes
Dynamic events - Rift : Yes, Done one done them all, GW2 : Yes, Looks like, Done one done them all
Grpahics - Rift : Nice but nothing great, GW2 : Nice but nothing great
PVP - Rift : warzones, GW2 : World vs world plus warzones
Questing - Rift : same as most others, marks over npcs head, GW2 : no marks over any npcs head
crafting - Rift : same old same old, GW2 : same old same old
So really, the op did have a point. When you sit back and compare just a little, with a new game. GW2 and the hype that is being thrown at it, seems a little ridiculous.
Thats a rather pitiful and extremely inaccurate comparison.
Really. then you break it down and you will see that it's not anything to garner this much hype.
This is a comparison between the games in November or so, a lot has changed, in both I think, but I still feel GW2 isn't going to feel like a WOW clone. IMO Rift is just a WOW clone, with an extra spice. GW2 is trying to at least innovate instead of ripping off others entirely.
Gameinformer-
The Impending Dynamic Content Future
Nothing short of nuking Blizzard from orbit is going to stop World of Warcraft from chugging along and doing its thing, but the next generation of MMORPGs is nearly here. Dynamic PvE content - zones, quests, and objectives that change over time based on player actions - is one of the watchwords of the coming MMO landscape. Rift: Planes of Telara and Guild Wars 2 have dramatically different ways of approaching the concept. Which one fits your gaming taste?
Yada yada yada...(shortening posts here with an edit)
Ok for a start your Emergent and Variety are one in the same thing, 'dynamic content'. Rift is Dynamic in the fact that they appear at random and can interact with NPC characters. Guilds Wars is dynamic in that it plays more like a true RPG in that your decision will affect the future in a tangible way. Although Rift does that to a certain degree it is nothing but a scratch on the surface of what kind of events will be present and possible within the guild wars infrastructure. If you want to dumb it down enough then yes, it will sound the same.. so do a lot of things.
As for youre
'Rift - Innovative skill-tree unlocking and progression systems allow unprecedented customization.'
While that is true it is hardly a positive aspect
For a start most of the possible combinations are flat out pointless..unless you mean in a 'you would be as well not spending any points' kind of way. In fact, this is so precedented that ArenaNet as well as other developers (Another nice example was the game Fury) have already been there and done that only to find that all it does it offer a lot of nothing since the vast majority of the 'combinations' are pointless.
Instead this time around ArenaNet have decided that what they want to do is not offer you more, pointless, skills but offer you a greater degree of flexibility in utilizing fewer, better, different skills. They do this by introducing weapon switches, downed skills, chain attacks, combo attacks as well as other methods. They are injecting a level of flexability into the combat in such a way that has not been carried off successfully by a large scale AAA MMO for such a prolonged period of time.
This is without even taking into account that your Rift character, while utterly customizable to a huge degree, is as rigid and solid in flexability as any other character in any other MMORPG when you actually get into combat. Combined with the traditional auto attack combat system it leaves nothing but a bad taste in the mouth when you see past the smoke and mirrors. Not only that but by introducing so many possible skill combinations the developers will either be copying skill effects to a huge degree or just give up balancing the game entirely.
On top of this Guild Wars 2 also has the possibility to shake the foundation of the current MMO structure as a whole with not only its incredible focus on Revolution of gameplay as opposed to evolution but with something as basic as their payment model. No other AAA MMO has attempted to go for this payment method.. You are essentially paying for a single player game with constant content updates and paying nothing else until the expansion comes out. And not only does it have no monthly fee but it also has the distinct possibility to play and feel better than the paid for competition.
Guild Wars 2 is attempting to revolutionize the MMO genre as a whole at such an incredibly fundamental level of which the likes has not been seen since even well before WoW came out.
It is still a themepark MMO but it is more different than it is similar. This is what will buck the trend of current MMO gaming. This is the kind of game that will change everything and everyone. Even those playing their sub based MMO's will have to wonder why they are paying. This is the only game where the developers are looking to improve, in meaningful ways, on EVERY aspect of the genre as a whole rather than focus on the one or two 'new' ideas.
Scratch beneath the surface and have a look at the implications.
LOL hey, bro, this isn't my stuff, it's from a comparison done by gameinformer apparently, from around november. I agree that GW2 will be way better than Rift.
In all fairness, he did only post it a few hours ago, and if he lives on the west coast of the U.S. it would be right before school, so he may not have had a chance to get back.
LOL hey, bro, this isn't my stuff, it's from a comparison done by gameinformer apparently, from around november. I agree that GW2 will be way better than Rift.
Doh!
Oh well, that explains the dumbing down then I suppose!
GW2 is both a theme park and a sandbox. You can free roam all you want and get to max level ( but that is not what Guild Wars is all about) or you can go through your personal story.
Arenanet insists that they are catering to all types of players. It can be done. Its like GW2 is 4 games in one actually. Dynamic events , Dungeon crawling , personal story , and PVP are all parts of this game that have their own full content. Dont forget about the mini-games that you can get into that will be a good ice breaker. Your first experience with this game will probably make you keep asking yourself "what am I gonna do????? , do I go dynamic events? personal story?". Fact is you can switch between any playstyle and you wont be penalized for it.
Wasn't "more of the same" a political term? Rift was more of the same and it has done pretty well for itself. The small addition of rifts appearing spontaneously has added a little frantic to it.
GW2 is more of the same and a whole lot of new!!!!!!!
I don't believe the OP was being a troll, just asking a question from the way he see's things. I think the most fairest way to compare GW2, is not to compare it to GW but more to game like RIFT.
Fantasy Setting - Rift : Yes, GW2 : Yes
Dynamic events - Rift : Yes, Done one done them all, GW2 : Yes, Looks like, Done one done them all
Grpahics - Rift : Nice but nothing great, GW2 : Nice but nothing great
PVP - Rift : warzones, GW2 : World vs world plus warzones
Questing - Rift : same as most others, marks over npcs head, GW2 : no marks over any npcs head
crafting - Rift : same old same old, GW2 : same old same old
So really, the op did have a point. When you sit back and compare just a little, with a new game. GW2 and the hype that is being thrown at it, seems a little ridiculous.
Thats a rather pitiful and extremely inaccurate comparison.
Really. then you break it down and you will see that it's not anything to garner this much hype.
It's just really hard to sit back and watch yet another straw man arguement take place on the forums. I will attempt and provide an accurate description, as I am waiting on something irl and have a bit of extra time on my hands.
Fantasy Setting - Rift : Yes, GW2 : Yes
True enough, nothing really to say here. However, to simply call GW2 a "Fantasy Setting" is also a bit misleading, as it has various aspects of Steampunk and Science Fiction. There are Rifles, Science Fiction mech type constructs, and mechanical cities. In addition, we have seen things as benign as pirates using gun turrets. I believe calling it "Fantasy" is a large misrepresentation. Then again, it is all personal context - don't argue semantics though =p
Dynamic events - Rift : Yes, Done one done them all, GW2 : Yes, Looks like, Done one done them all
This has a large inaccuracy in it's statement. When I played RIFT, I felt the same as you. I've seen the raid RIFTs and they still feel pretty similar to me. However, with Guild Wars 2 - one event might have you answering trivia, another might have you defending a village from a centaur raid - and if you fail, they station a base camp at the town and attack other settlements from there, and heck... one event even has you racing against the clock to catch rabbits before they nom nom all the lettuce. So yeah, I'd say you heavily misrepresented the Dynamic Event system. Even I am not doing it justice right now.
Grpahics - Rift : Nice but nothing great, GW2 : Nice but nothing great
Opinion, but GW2 is taking a different stance to art-styles. Look it up, explaining art is kind of like trying to read a first person shooter. Not happening. Just google "Daniel Dociu" (sp?)
PVP - Rift : warzones, GW2 : World vs world plus warzones
WvWvW is a large separate area big enough to host a week long bout between 3 entire servers, rotating every week. If the OP is a PvPer at heart, then he will be interested in hearing about how this area supports full leveling from 1 to 80, has loot drops from other players, and has EVERYTHING you need to sustain your play until you max out in level. In addition, if e-sport is your area, Guild Wars 2 plans on jumping head first into LoL style 5v5 skill based matches where everything is equal, all players have the same gear, skills, and level. It is all about personal player skill and not about who has spent more time playing the game.
In addition there are Battleground like areas, but we don't have much information on those other than they will be hot-joinable much like a FPS match. All bases are covered, just think about it this way - There is a PvP world, and a PvE world on the same server. RIFTs description was appropriate though, you left out Open World PvP/Ganking/Griefing - but RIFT supports it by allowing the enemy faction to destroy towns temporarily if I am right. Correct me if I am wrong.
Questing - Rift : same as most others, marks over npcs head, GW2 : no marks over any npcs head
Yeah, pretty much. GW2 has zero quests - but a "scout" system that points you in the direction of SOME of the events in the game, this is for people who run in to Guild Wars 2 without realizing you never EVER have to go out and find quests in order to do an event. It weans you on to their new way of doing things. "You see it, it looks important, go have fun and get fully rewarded without having to turn it in".
crafting - Rift : same old same old, GW2 : same old same old
While we HAVE seen a form of this type of crafting before, it is more akin to Minecraft from early reports... than any other traditional MMO we have seen thus far. You will never have to make like 30 Iron Bolts just to get 24 points in blacksmithing, which you will then proceed to sell the bolts on the Auction House to make a paltry return on your investment, GW2s crafting supports quote "Experimenting with Materials" rather than buying recipes.
I hope this clears things up for you guys. Thanks for reading.
People think it's fun to pretend your a monster. Me I spend my life pretending I'm not. - Dexter Morgan
Comments
Thats a rather pitiful and extremely inaccurate comparison.
Really. then you break it down and you will see that it's not anything to garner this much hype.
Yes, if you have no idea about the game that's how it works.
My own personal pros and cons with GW2
pros:
-great graphics
-great combat mechanics
-large scale pvp
-great original score
-interesting quest system
-underwater exploration
-mini games like bar fights
cons:
-just another fantasy game
-arenas/esport
-shallow crafting
-unfortunately all pvp is instanced and separate from the DE system
-no player housing, cannot craft anything non combat related
-just another combat centric mmo
-teleporting all around the map once you discover the waypoints
-invisible walls
-node farming style of gathering
take it for what you will, these are just my personal preference and opinions. some people will think that some of my cons are pros but to each their own.
True, but it's also one that could easily be made by someone mildly curious about the game and is unwilling to look beneath the surface. However, for anyone who has actually done their homework and researched the game to see what it's really about, that kind of comparison would be as a result of either willful ignorance or the pursuit of trolldom.
It's not difficult to make poor assumptions about the game when you're not keenly interested to start with. Not all of the new concepts make it immediately apparent how different they are to the established norm. In fact, how many of us who follow GW2 spent much of our time debating, analyzing and re-analyzing the mechanics before we actually understood them? It's not hard to see why a somewhat interested newcomer might not grasp them immediately either, then do what is completely natural and try to identify the concepts with what's familiar to them. It's pigeonholing and we all do it to some extent.
The settings are completely different. Not all fantasy settings are the same. You wouldn't say the world in Glen Cook's Black Company series is like Toril in Forgotten Realms would you?
The dynamic events are nothing alike. Rifts are just moving PQs that are an after-thought to break of the monotony of the pathetic questing. The DEs in GW2 have much more variety and move along chains that can branch off into different directions.
I admit that I don't know much about graphics but it more comes down the art style which I can tell you are nothing alike.
I personally haven't done any PvP in Rift but from what I know of it I can agree that it is mostly just battlegrounds. The PvP in GW2 is going to be 5v5 arena matches like in the first game and the WvWvW is week long battles between 3 servers that takes place on massive maps that contain fortresses and mines and villages.
The questing in Rift is mediocre. In GW2 the DEs are a complete replacement for quests and its not just simply "no marks over any npc's head" as the DEs happen on there own without any npc interaction and scale with the amount of people doing them so that they can be done alone or with a large amount of people. You also have your own personal storyline.
Crafting in Rift really is nothing different. Crafting in GW2, while not majorly different, allows you to find recipes on your own my mixing and matching ingredients and also removes the stupid bar that you have to wait to fill up.
I will go further than you and include some other things.
Combat: Rift is same old same old. GW2 has included a dodge mechanic and cross-class combos for more strategy, your weapons also determine your first five skills and therefore determine your play-style. You are also allowed to switch between weapon sets in mid-combat to completely change how go about the battle. There is also going to be underwater exploration that also has its own form of combat to make it more fun.
You're probably right. How does that saying go? You can lead a horse to water ...
@ Meowhead I do like the graphics and art design, I am just trying to not be overly bias.
All of my posts are either intelligent, thought provoking, funny, satirical, sarcastic or intentionally disrespectful. Take your pick.
I get banned in the forums for games I love, so lets see if I do better in the forums for games I hate.
I enjoy the serenity of not caring what your opinion is.
I don't hate much, but I hate Apple© with a passion. If Steve Jobs was alive, I would punch him in the face.
This is a comparison between the games in November or so, a lot has changed, in both I think, but I still feel GW2 isn't going to feel like a WOW clone. IMO Rift is just a WOW clone, with an extra spice. GW2 is trying to at least innovate instead of ripping off others entirely.
Gameinformer-(Edit for clarification: everything below on my post is from Gameinformer)
The Impending Dynamic Content Future
Nothing short of nuking Blizzard from orbit is going to stop World of Warcraft from chugging along and doing its thing, but the next generation of MMORPGs is nearly here. Dynamic PvE content - zones, quests, and objectives that change over time based on player actions - is one of the watchwords of the coming MMO landscape. Rift: Planes of Telara and Guild Wars 2 have dramatically different ways of approaching the concept. Which one fits your gaming taste?
Guild Wars 2
The event system in Guild Wars 2 is basically Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning's public quests taken to the extreme. The game doesn't have what we think of as "standard" MMO quests - all of the outdoor PvE content is tied into these events, which are happening all around you all the time. Events range from rescuing a farmer from bandits to teaming up with dozens of players and NPCs to take down a marauding death dragon.
Rift
Rift has large swathes of traditional MMO design with its signature rifts layered on top. These tears in the dimensional fabric of the world allow the malevolent forces of the elemental planes to enter the physical realm, wreaking havoc on the landscape and the wildlife in the process. If they continue unopposed by players, rifts escalate into full-scale invasions that can and will wreck entire cities until players deal with them.
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Emergent
GW2 - Some events tie into others, like escorting a supply caravan to a larger ongoing battle.
Rift - Invasions will fight NPCs, guards, and other ongoing invasions.
Advantage - Rift
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Variaty
GW2 - Powerful technology allows designers to hand-craft a wide variaty of scenarios.
Rift - Dozens if not hundreds of pieces are fitted together to make each rift or invasion unique.
Advantage - Guild Wars 2
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Aesthetics
GW2 - Painterly art style ties entire world together with unique look.
Rift - Solid graphics and art hew closely to fantasy tropes.
Advantage - Guild Wars 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Gameplay
GW2 - Positional combat and multiple stances for each class provide endless combat possibilities.
Rift - Innovative skill-tree unlocking and progression systems allow unprecedented customization.
Advantage - Draw
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Accessibility
GW2 - Events scale according to the number of players engaged with them.
Rift - Rifts, footholds, and even invasions all scale to player involvement.
Advantage - Draw
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Ambition
GW2 - Building a world full of constantly churning, interlocking event system.
Rift - Underlying tech that allows massive changes to game world during gameplay on live servers.
Advantage - Draw
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Track Record
GW2 - NCsoft's global MMO empire stands behind MMO developer.
Rift - Investor-funded startup Trion is publisher and developer.
Advantage - Guild Wars 2
------------------------------------------------------------------
Realease
GW2 - When it's done.
Rift - Early 2011
Advantage - Rift
--------------------------------------------------------------
Overall Edge: Guild Wars 2
It's tough to bet against Guild Wars 2. Developer ArenaNet has longstanding experiance creating and maintaining innovative, successful MMOs, and everything it has shown of Guild Wars 2 to date has been nothing short of incredible. On the other hand, upstart Trion is making a bold entry into online gaming with Rift, and I like what i've seen so far. I have to give the edge to Guild Wars 2 for now, but these are the top two non-Cataclysm MMOs on my radar for good reason.
Rift: epic storyline interspersed among regular quests telling overarching zone story
Guild Wars 2: personal storyline dependent on race and other character choices, fully voiced, and further branching throughout the game.
Alt path variety
Rift: 2 starting areas, one per faction. One storyline each.
GW2: 5 starting areas, one per race. Branching and varied storylines within each racial story.
Quest design
Rift: speak to npc, accept quest, complete quest, turn on quest. Exceptions during zone-wide invasions which are open-world events but do not replace quests
Guild Wars 2: personal storyline largely advanced in instances for impactful decision-making. Open-world dynamic events in lieu of quests.
Cooperative mechanics
Rift: public groups for shared quest objectives, mob tagging based on dps, harvesting nodes are every player for him/herself
GW2: grouping unnecessary for aiding allies, ressing available to all, harvesting nodes and mobs cannot be "stolen"
Endgame
Rift: traditional raiding endgame with gear-gating treadmill, raid rifts for more public encounters
GW2: entire game does not change at endgame, same activities, multiple 5-man dungeons available game-wide. Stats on gear spread horizontally rather than vertically
Business model
Rift: Box plus subscription fee; long term subscriptions at a discount
GW2: box price enables you to play the base game forever: cash shop consisting of cosmetic items, content packs, and convenience items
You are correct on many of your points except the fully voiced. Only one mmo can claim that and it's not GW2.
A far better example for comparison would be Doom 3.
How is the game played: Doom 3 - Mouse and Keyboard Guild Wars 2 - Mouse and Keyboard.
So essentially GW2 is a singleplayer FPS game based on mars.
As a person who has played both games (and yes I understand GW2 can change from now and when it is released) the play very different and feel very different. Rift as we all know plays very much like WoW and that is not a bad thing. The play style and game flow is very different in GW2. Things are must faster and fluid due to being more twitch based. The concept of not needing to be in a "group" to get credit for an event that multiple people worked together on, adds a huge amount of immersion to the world. And trust me if you see someone in an event you join in, you better work together. The event will scale up and if you don't have teamwork you will die. You don't need to "group" just need to work together and help each other. This might be a tough concept but I think it will do wonders for the community in the long run.
Also the events escalate and change depending on what happens. For instance you see a group of NPC and they what to push back some mob. As you help them you see seige towers and you get an update to take them out. You take them out then the enemies send out repair crews, now to you have an update to take out the repair crews. During this other players come by and this increases the spawn rates, you can't keep up with killing the repair crew and they build a few new towers. Now you are back to needing to destroy the towers and stop the repair crews, oh and the original request to push them back in the first place.
Opps I think I went of track a bit. I can't wait to play this game again.
When you compare the basics, of course you are just going to get more of the same. By using your logic, GW2 is just another shooter because it has guns. When you look at the implementation, then you see how it's different. Remember, just looking at it, it looks like the same thing. I could also just as easily say GW2 is just like Morrowind because it has graphics.
Actually any non agressive NPC you can interact with in PvE will be fully voiced. There is over 60 full featured length movie dialogue within the game. You do not ever need to read text from NPCs. You will hear surrounding NPCs chat while walking around in cities and hear the screams and begging for help from NPCs that are under attack in the PvE areas. Also many of the more sentient mobs such as centuars will be voiced.
Enough dialogue for over 60 movies? I'd say that was fully voiced or near enough so.
The first response you received is wrong. There will be a sort of Open World PvP done in the Mists. If you want a good example for this think about Dark Age of Camelot battlegrounds. You will go to these massive zones and you will battle over objectives and resource nodes against 2 other servers. So they are sort of implementing DAoC styled PvP, but instead of having 3 factions pitted against each other you get 3 servers. Also, you will have the Guild Wars traditional Arena styled PvP as well.
DC Universe Online?
[Mod Edit]
On topic (in case the OP actually cares to read up): Here is the page with LOADS of GW2 info and links to everything from gameplay videos to screenshots, to....info on the musical score and everything in between. It's a very thorough list of everything we actually KNOW for a fact about the game.....
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/287180/page/1
President of The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club
Ok for a start your Emergent and Variety are one in the same thing, 'dynamic content'. Rift is Dynamic in the fact that they appear at random and can interact with NPC characters. Guilds Wars is dynamic in that it plays more like a true RPG in that your decision will affect the future in a tangible way. Although Rift does that to a certain degree it is nothing but a scratch on the surface of what kind of events will be present and possible within the guild wars infrastructure. If you want to dumb it down enough then yes, it will sound the same.. so do a lot of things.
As for youre
'Rift - Innovative skill-tree unlocking and progression systems allow unprecedented customization.'
While that is true it is hardly a positive aspect
For a start most of the possible combinations are flat out pointless..unless you mean in a 'you would be as well not spending any points' kind of way. In fact, this is so precedented that ArenaNet as well as other developers (Another nice example was the game Fury) have already been there and done that only to find that all it does it offer a lot of nothing since the vast majority of the 'combinations' are pointless.
Instead this time around ArenaNet have decided that what they want to do is not offer you more, pointless, skills but offer you a greater degree of flexibility in utilizing fewer, better, different skills. They do this by introducing weapon switches, downed skills, chain attacks, combo attacks as well as other methods. They are injecting a level of flexability into the combat in such a way that has not been carried off successfully by a large scale AAA MMO for such a prolonged period of time.
This is without even taking into account that your Rift character, while utterly customizable to a huge degree, is as rigid and solid in flexability as any other character in any other MMORPG when you actually get into combat. Combined with the traditional auto attack combat system it leaves nothing but a bad taste in the mouth when you see past the smoke and mirrors. Not only that but by introducing so many possible skill combinations the developers will either be copying skill effects to a huge degree or just give up balancing the game entirely.
On top of this Guild Wars 2 also has the possibility to shake the foundation of the current MMO structure as a whole with not only its incredible focus on Revolution of gameplay as opposed to evolution but with something as basic as their payment model. No other AAA MMO has attempted to go for this payment method.. You are essentially paying for a single player game with constant content updates and paying nothing else until the expansion comes out. And not only does it have no monthly fee but it also has the distinct possibility to play and feel better than the paid for competition.
Guild Wars 2 is attempting to revolutionize the MMO genre as a whole at such an incredibly fundamental level of which the likes has not been seen since even well before WoW came out.
It is still a themepark MMO but it is more different than it is similar. This is what will buck the trend of current MMO gaming. This is the kind of game that will change everything and everyone. Even those playing their sub based MMO's will have to wonder why they are paying. This is the only game where the developers are looking to improve, in meaningful ways, on EVERY aspect of the genre as a whole rather than focus on the one or two 'new' ideas.
Scratch beneath the surface and have a look at the implications.
In all fairness, he did only post it a few hours ago, and if he lives on the west coast of the U.S. it would be right before school, so he may not have had a chance to get back.
LOL hey, bro, this isn't my stuff, it's from a comparison done by gameinformer apparently, from around november. I agree that GW2 will be way better than Rift.
Good call. I apologize....for now.
President of The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club
Doh!
Oh well, that explains the dumbing down then I suppose!
Sorry
GW2 is both a theme park and a sandbox. You can free roam all you want and get to max level ( but that is not what Guild Wars is all about) or you can go through your personal story.
Arenanet insists that they are catering to all types of players. It can be done. Its like GW2 is 4 games in one actually. Dynamic events , Dungeon crawling , personal story , and PVP are all parts of this game that have their own full content. Dont forget about the mini-games that you can get into that will be a good ice breaker. Your first experience with this game will probably make you keep asking yourself "what am I gonna do????? , do I go dynamic events? personal story?". Fact is you can switch between any playstyle and you wont be penalized for it.
Wasn't "more of the same" a political term? Rift was more of the same and it has done pretty well for itself. The small addition of rifts appearing spontaneously has added a little frantic to it.
GW2 is more of the same and a whole lot of new!!!!!!!
-I am here to perform logic
It's just really hard to sit back and watch yet another straw man arguement take place on the forums. I will attempt and provide an accurate description, as I am waiting on something irl and have a bit of extra time on my hands.
Fantasy Setting - Rift : Yes, GW2 : Yes
True enough, nothing really to say here. However, to simply call GW2 a "Fantasy Setting" is also a bit misleading, as it has various aspects of Steampunk and Science Fiction. There are Rifles, Science Fiction mech type constructs, and mechanical cities. In addition, we have seen things as benign as pirates using gun turrets. I believe calling it "Fantasy" is a large misrepresentation. Then again, it is all personal context - don't argue semantics though =p
Dynamic events - Rift : Yes, Done one done them all, GW2 : Yes, Looks like, Done one done them all
This has a large inaccuracy in it's statement. When I played RIFT, I felt the same as you. I've seen the raid RIFTs and they still feel pretty similar to me. However, with Guild Wars 2 - one event might have you answering trivia, another might have you defending a village from a centaur raid - and if you fail, they station a base camp at the town and attack other settlements from there, and heck... one event even has you racing against the clock to catch rabbits before they nom nom all the lettuce. So yeah, I'd say you heavily misrepresented the Dynamic Event system. Even I am not doing it justice right now.
Grpahics - Rift : Nice but nothing great, GW2 : Nice but nothing great
Opinion, but GW2 is taking a different stance to art-styles. Look it up, explaining art is kind of like trying to read a first person shooter. Not happening. Just google "Daniel Dociu" (sp?)
PVP - Rift : warzones, GW2 : World vs world plus warzones
WvWvW is a large separate area big enough to host a week long bout between 3 entire servers, rotating every week. If the OP is a PvPer at heart, then he will be interested in hearing about how this area supports full leveling from 1 to 80, has loot drops from other players, and has EVERYTHING you need to sustain your play until you max out in level. In addition, if e-sport is your area, Guild Wars 2 plans on jumping head first into LoL style 5v5 skill based matches where everything is equal, all players have the same gear, skills, and level. It is all about personal player skill and not about who has spent more time playing the game.
In addition there are Battleground like areas, but we don't have much information on those other than they will be hot-joinable much like a FPS match. All bases are covered, just think about it this way - There is a PvP world, and a PvE world on the same server. RIFTs description was appropriate though, you left out Open World PvP/Ganking/Griefing - but RIFT supports it by allowing the enemy faction to destroy towns temporarily if I am right. Correct me if I am wrong.
Questing - Rift : same as most others, marks over npcs head, GW2 : no marks over any npcs head
Yeah, pretty much. GW2 has zero quests - but a "scout" system that points you in the direction of SOME of the events in the game, this is for people who run in to Guild Wars 2 without realizing you never EVER have to go out and find quests in order to do an event. It weans you on to their new way of doing things. "You see it, it looks important, go have fun and get fully rewarded without having to turn it in".
crafting - Rift : same old same old, GW2 : same old same old
While we HAVE seen a form of this type of crafting before, it is more akin to Minecraft from early reports... than any other traditional MMO we have seen thus far. You will never have to make like 30 Iron Bolts just to get 24 points in blacksmithing, which you will then proceed to sell the bolts on the Auction House to make a paltry return on your investment, GW2s crafting supports quote "Experimenting with Materials" rather than buying recipes.
I hope this clears things up for you guys. Thanks for reading.
People think it's fun to pretend your a monster. Me I spend my life pretending I'm not. - Dexter Morgan