Guild Wars 2: PAX 2011 – Dynamic Events and Guild Halls

SBFord

Some of the biggest and most exciting stories PAX centered around the hotly-anticipated Guild Wars 2. MMORPG.com's Carolyn Koh sat in on a panel discussion with Arena.Net developers to find out more about both dynamic events and guild halls. We've got some terrific nuggets of information to share so keep reading! Leave your thoughts in the comments!

For events, ArenaNet actually has a template on their proprietary software that allows them to rough in an event. Depending on how complex the event is, the rough draft can be playable in as few as six hours to two days. From then on, it’s a cycle of play-testing, receiving feedback and iterating. ArenaNet actually have QA testers on the various teams so the cycle is very quick. An event gets iterated 10 to 15 times by the time it gets through the QA loop.

Read more of Carolyn Koh's Guild Wars 2: PAX 2011 – Dynamic Events and Guild Halls.

garry

I presume then that leveling is a game mechanic. The article mentions leveling zones, leveling sidekicks and leveling crafting.  Any comments?

lectrocuda

dont know what to think. so muchh going on, im just going to have to play it to really get a feel for what its about. definitely looks promising by far.  lets hope it lives up to the hype.

 

the way we and them dicuss it, its like the second coming...

lectrocuda

Originally posted by lectrocuda

 

 

the way we and them dicuss it, its like the second coming...

 

by this I mean both theism and orgasm ;p

moosecatlol

I don't think I ever made use of my guild hall in Guild Wars.

I wonder if spell projectiles will be able to pick up attributes from persistant effects, a player uses Tornado, passes through an oil slick, and then passes through a firewall.

One can dream.

EvilGeek

Originally posted by moosecatlol

I don't think I ever made use of my guild hall in Guild Wars.

I wonder if spell projectiles will be able to pick up attributes from persistant effects, a player uses Tornado, passes through an oil slick, and then passes through a firewall.

One can dream.

 

If   there's a fire wall, static field and a poison cloud all neatly lined up, would a player be able to pick up fire, electrical and poison damage on their weapons ? or will they limit it to one damage buff per weapon from other sources?

grimm6th

Originally posted by EvilGeek

If   there's a fire wall, static field and a poison cloud all neatly lined up, would a player be able to pick up fire, electrical and poison damage on their weapons ? or will they limit it to one damage buff per weapon from other sources?

all 3 would stack.

just1opinion

Every tiny tidbit of information on this game is like tossing me a single Lays potato chip......it just makes me want the whole bag.  MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH.  MOAR PLEEZE.

grimm6th

Originally posted by garry

I presume then that leveling is a game mechanic. The article mentions leveling zones, leveling sidekicks and leveling crafting.  Any comments?

 

yeah...you misread the article.

As many people have heard, the time per level plateaus faily early on, leaving players to spend about the same amount of time on each level.

Crafting levels will, as far as I have heard, be fairly easy to gain, primarily because the system isn't really level based so much as based on discovering recipies for your self (unless you want to be a wuss in wiki them).

sidekicking isn't about leveling, but rather your character playing a zone that is a too high or low level for you.  Sidekicking balances you out so that you can still be powerful without being able to just one shot everything, which would reduce the amount of fun other players would have by playing with you.

Another cool thing about sidekicking is that it gives a different perspective on what levels mean in IN GAME terms.  How strong is a level 20 compared to a level 80?  in other games, the level 20 would be super weak and would be killed in one hit.  In GW2, even though you are dealing thousands of damage per hit at 80 and only hundreds of damage at 20, this doesn't mean that the level 80 is 10 times more powerful (or more) than the level 20.

so...when you go back to a beginner zone after getting level 80 the idea is that you are stonger than them, but only by a realistic amount (think beginner swordsman versus veteran swordsman.)

 

In the end, this game uses levels, buut isn't about leveling.

Homitu

Originally posted by EvilGeek

Originally posted by moosecatlol

I don't think I ever made use of my guild hall in Guild Wars.

I wonder if spell projectiles will be able to pick up attributes from persistant effects, a player uses Tornado, passes through an oil slick, and then passes through a firewall.

One can dream.

 

If   there's a fire wall, static field and a poison cloud all neatly lined up, would a player be able to pick up fire, electrical and poison damage on their weapons ? or will they limit it to one damage buff per weapon from other sources?

Ever since we heard about the hundreds and hundreds of possible spell combos GW2 will have over a year ago, I was very excited.  Unfortunately, since then we haven't heard a single example besides this passive projectile "combo."  In a combo system, it's fine to have both passive and active, "new" effects, but if they're all just passive, it really won't ever feel like you're pulling off combos at all.  The most important part of including combos in a game is that both players involved actually experience the result of their combined efforts.  They should feel like they worked together to create something new and more powerful than the normal sum of both of their individual attacks ever would have been.  

 

I really hope to hear some new info on this system in the near future.  

n3verendR

Originally posted by grimm6th

Originally posted by garry

I presume then that leveling is a game mechanic. The article mentions leveling zones, leveling sidekicks and leveling crafting.  Any comments?

 

yeah...you misread the article.

As many people have heard, the time per level plateaus faily early on, leaving players to spend about the same amount of time on each level.

Crafting levels will, as far as I have heard, be fairly easy to gain, primarily because the system isn't really level based so much as based on discovering recipies for your self (unless you want to be a wuss in wiki them).

sidekicking isn't about leveling, but rather your character playing a zone that is a too high or low level for you.  Sidekicking balances you out so that you can still be powerful without being able to just one shot everything, which would reduce the amount of fun other players would have by playing with you.

Another cool thing about sidekicking is that it gives a different perspective on what levels mean in IN GAME terms.  How strong is a level 20 compared to a level 80?  in other games, the level 20 would be super weak and would be killed in one hit.  In GW2, even though you are dealing thousands of damage per hit at 80 and only hundreds of damage at 20, this doesn't mean that the level 80 is 10 times more powerful (or more) than the level 20.

so...when you go back to a beginner zone after getting level 80 the idea is that you are stonger than them, but only by a realistic amount (think beginner swordsman versus veteran swordsman.)

 

In the end, this game uses levels, buut isn't about leveling.

 

Exceptionally well written.

grimm6th

Originally posted by Homitu

Ever since we heard about the hundreds and hundreds of possible spell combos GW2 will have over a year ago, I was very excited.  Unfortunately, since then we haven't heard a single example besides this passive projectile "combo."  In a combo system, it's fine to have both passive and active, "new" effects, but if they're all just passive, it really won't ever feel like you're pulling off combos at all.  The most important part of including combos in a game is that both players involved actually experience the result of their combined efforts.  They should feel like they worked together to create something new and more powerful than the normal sum of both of their individual attacks ever would have been.  

 

I really hope to hear some new info on this system in the near future.  

 

There is more to it than passive application of effects to damage.  There is flinging fire balls off of a wall of fire with an axe or causing projectiles to heal allies near where it hits or coordinating knockbacks so that monstes are damaged by passing through AoE effects.  There is probably other thigns we haven't seen as well.

Diovidius

Originally posted by Homitu

Originally posted by EvilGeek

Originally posted by moosecatlol

I don't think I ever made use of my guild hall in Guild Wars.

I wonder if spell projectiles will be able to pick up attributes from persistant effects, a player uses Tornado, passes through an oil slick, and then passes through a firewall.

One can dream.

 

If   there's a fire wall, static field and a poison cloud all neatly lined up, would a player be able to pick up fire, electrical and poison damage on their weapons ? or will they limit it to one damage buff per weapon from other sources?

Ever since we heard about the hundreds and hundreds of possible spell combos GW2 will have over a year ago, I was very excited.  Unfortunately, since then we haven't heard a single example besides this passive projectile "combo."  In a combo system, it's fine to have both passive and active, "new" effects, but if they're all just passive, it really won't ever feel like you're pulling off combos at all.  The most important part of including combos in a game is that both players involved actually experience the result of their combined efforts.  They should feel like they worked together to create something new and more powerful than the normal sum of both of their individual attacks ever would have been.  

 

I really hope to hear some new info on this system in the near future.  

Maybe Anet wants to keep it a suprise and let players experiment. Not very useful in the age of wiki's but still Anet does the same with crafting recipes.

Naqaj

d'oh, double post.

Naqaj

Originally posted by grimm6th

yeah...you misread the article.

[...] 

In the end, this game uses levels, buut isn't about leveling.

 

He didn't ask whether the game was about leveling, he said leveling seems to be a game mechanic. Which is undoubtedly true.

Though that is a bit like saying "I presume the sea is wet, comments?"

cali59

Originally posted by grimm6th

Originally posted by Homitu

Ever since we heard about the hundreds and hundreds of possible spell combos GW2 will have over a year ago, I was very excited.  Unfortunately, since then we haven't heard a single example besides this passive projectile "combo."  In a combo system, it's fine to have both passive and active, "new" effects, but if they're all just passive, it really won't ever feel like you're pulling off combos at all.  The most important part of including combos in a game is that both players involved actually experience the result of their combined efforts.  They should feel like they worked together to create something new and more powerful than the normal sum of both of their individual attacks ever would have been.  

 

I really hope to hear some new info on this system in the near future.  

 

There is more to it than passive application of effects to damage.  There is flinging fire balls off of a wall of fire with an axe or causing projectiles to heal allies near where it hits or coordinating knockbacks so that monstes are damaged by passing through AoE effects.  There is probably other thigns we haven't seen as well.

 In ArenaNet's manifesto video, right after we see the ranger tossing off fireballs while swinging a weapon in a fire wall, we also see a mage putting up an electrical field and an enemy getting a stunning electric shock when shot by a warrior standing in that field.

A lot of these will have to do with positioning.  It doesn't have to be passive, but people on both sides being able to see what's going on around them and react to it visually.  A ranger can see a fire wall and run behind it to take advantage, or the mage can see a ranger shooting and drop the wall in front of them.  Once the wall is down, maybe the warrior uses a knockback to launch an enemy into it, etc.

It's true though that we haven't heard an awful lot about this system, but I've also seen the examples grimm6th gives, it has been very "one here, one there".  I think they said once the last profession is revealed they're going to do a week of articles on combat, hopefully they'll do a full piece on cross profession combos.

Lord_Athon

Originally posted by grimm6th

yeah...you misread the article.

As many people have heard, the time per level plateaus faily early on, leaving players to spend about the same amount of time on each level.

Crafting levels will, as far as I have heard, be fairly easy to gain, primarily because the system isn't really level based so much as based on discovering recipies for your self (unless you want to be a wuss in wiki them).

sidekicking isn't about leveling, but rather your character playing a zone that is a too high or low level for you.  Sidekicking balances you out so that you can still be powerful without being able to just one shot everything, which would reduce the amount of fun other players would have by playing with you.

Another cool thing about sidekicking is that it gives a different perspective on what levels mean in IN GAME terms.  How strong is a level 20 compared to a level 80?  in other games, the level 20 would be super weak and would be killed in one hit.  In GW2, even though you are dealing thousands of damage per hit at 80 and only hundreds of damage at 20, this doesn't mean that the level 80 is 10 times more powerful (or more) than the level 20.

so...when you go back to a beginner zone after getting level 80 the idea is that you are stonger than them, but only by a realistic amount (think beginner swordsman versus veteran swordsman.)

 

In the end, this game uses levels, buut isn't about leveling.

 

Just great Grimm6th... thanks

akathos

Ever since I caught wind of GW2 I had my eye on it, probably became quite obessive with checking everyday for news.  But its coming along nicely, I've heard things to be made one way, and then next month Ive found out they changed it.. and for the better.. on numerous things such as stats, and energy usage.

 

I love everything about this game so far... Game of the decade... MMO's across the country will take a hit on their population when this beast arrives.

itgrowls

must.....play ......release.....game....now...plz......must.....warn/tell...must warntell.....others...cough

zellmer

Release the game or GTFO already..

The ENDLESS previews are getting to me..

Rageahol

dissapointed that guild halls will not be in at launch. Anet seems to be stepping away from the "GUILD" wars aspect of the game. NOW WAIT, before this gets out of hand, let me explain. Anet has yet to show a strong support for pure GvG in GW2, yeah we have hot joinable pvp (awesome) and guilds being able to take keeps and outposts in WvWvW (awesome DAOC style) but even in GW1 i see the live team fading out Hero battles and Hall of Heros in favor of random arenas (well halls was gone once it was no longer needed for favor of the gods). NOW with guild halls coming post launch that means any good form of GvG (yes i believe that the greatness of GvG was going to other halls and having to use the strat of that hall in the battle) will have to be post launch.

 

with that being said I do think the rest of the game is in the right direction and having played the demo for myself (with a smile on) i know that this game will be strong and TOR has nothing on it. but again, the movement away from guild pride and guild pvp is sad.

Loke666

Originally posted by needalife214

dissapointed that guild halls will not be in at launch. Anet seems to be stepping away from the "GUILD" wars aspect of the game. NOW WAIT, before this gets out of hand, let me explain. Anet has yet to show a strong support for pure GvG in GW2, yeah we have hot joinable pvp (awesome) and guilds being able to take keeps and outposts in WvWvW (awesome DAOC style) but even in GW1 i see the live team fading out Hero battles and Hall of Heros in favor of random arenas (well halls was gone once it was no longer needed for favor of the gods). NOW with guild halls coming post launch that means any good form of GvG (yes i believe that the greatness of GvG was going to other halls and having to use the strat of that hall in the battle) will have to be post launch.

with that being said I do think the rest of the game is in the right direction and having played the demo for myself (with a smile on) i know that this game will be strong and TOR has nothing on it. but again, the movement away from guild pride and guild pvp is sad.

I have the feeling that the first expansion will be a lot about guilds.

But MMOs are a living breathing world and I guess we can't expect everything to be in from launch.

Rageahol

Originally posted by Loke666

Originally posted by needalife214

dissapointed that guild halls will not be in at launch. Anet seems to be stepping away from the "GUILD" wars aspect of the game. NOW WAIT, before this gets out of hand, let me explain. Anet has yet to show a strong support for pure GvG in GW2, yeah we have hot joinable pvp (awesome) and guilds being able to take keeps and outposts in WvWvW (awesome DAOC style) but even in GW1 i see the live team fading out Hero battles and Hall of Heros in favor of random arenas (well halls was gone once it was no longer needed for favor of the gods). NOW with guild halls coming post launch that means any good form of GvG (yes i believe that the greatness of GvG was going to other halls and having to use the strat of that hall in the battle) will have to be post launch.

with that being said I do think the rest of the game is in the right direction and having played the demo for myself (with a smile on) i know that this game will be strong and TOR has nothing on it. but again, the movement away from guild pride and guild pvp is sad.

I have the feeling that the first expansion will be a lot about guilds.

But MMOs are a living breathing world and I guess we can't expect everything to be in from launch.

ohh i agree and im sure the nuts (fans) over at guru feel similar, i see the first expansion similar to Factions, heavy PvP focus. and I do understand that trust me in the end i would rather have all my DE works and skills fire properly, but it makes me sad knowing that I wont have a guild hall to go to.

ThomasN7

Less talk about guilds and more talk about beta/release please! Come on ArenaNet stop milking it!

Pilnkplonk

Originally posted by needalife214

dissapointed that guild halls will not be in at launch. Anet seems to be stepping away from the "GUILD" wars aspect of the game. NOW WAIT, before this gets out of hand, let me explain. Anet has yet to show a strong support for pure GvG in GW2, yeah we have hot joinable pvp (awesome) and guilds being able to take keeps and outposts in WvWvW (awesome DAOC style) but even in GW1 i see the live team fading out Hero battles and Hall of Heros in favor of random arenas (well halls was gone once it was no longer needed for favor of the gods). NOW with guild halls coming post launch that means any good form of GvG (yes i believe that the greatness of GvG was going to other halls and having to use the strat of that hall in the battle) will have to be post launch.

 

with that being said I do think the rest of the game is in the right direction and having played the demo for myself (with a smile on) i know that this game will be strong and TOR has nothing on it. but again, the movement away from guild pride and guild pvp is sad.

 Well thats true, the only thing irking me at the moment is the very name of it ..."Guild Wars 2".. What guild wars lol? Imo the name's been coined waaaay back when ANET was building a Guild Wars game which is to be, largely about... Guild Wars, you know. But after all those years the vision's shifted a bit and the name's stuck like an embarassing nickname from the primary school, like Farty or Slick or something.

But it doesn't matter tho. It's just a small thing. Guild Wars is Guid Wars even if it's just two catchy words strung together. The game is what is important.

Raventree

It seems to me that this game is beginning to suffer from overhype.  It seems like everyone feels like this is going to be the greatest thing EVAR OMG!!!!  That inevitably leads to disappointment and screaming and crying once the game releases and people realize that there are limits to what a dev team can do with limited resources.

I would love for this game to be everything everyone thinks it is going to be, but so far no MMO has lived up to player expectations, mostly because they lose sight of reality and their expectations become unrealistic.

Between GW2 and SWToR, however, I am hoping that one, or both of them rock, and many of us will find a new MMO home for a while.  Just keep in mind that neither will be perfect.