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Calling all Alpha testers!
JustinJoseph
Site Co-FounderMember UncommonPosts: 602
Hello everyone!
We recently ( today ) got word from Gaile, the community relations manager for Guild Wars that we have some alpha testers here at mmorpg.com and they are officially aloud to speak with you all!
So we decided to set up a Q & A with the anticipated fans & members of mmorpg.com with the Alpha testers to answer some more detailed questions that may be on your minds!
There are some things that they are still restricted on sharing with the public and for this we ask for your understanding and encourage you to cooperate with them.
Ok, let the questions begin! 
----------------------------
Justin Joseph
-MMORPG.COM Co-Founder-
justinjoseph@mmorpg.com
Comments
Hey yeye, you go to TGH don't you? I'm hellprowler on there.
Anyway, My question was about the PvP, can you give us any details on exactly how the tournaments work in PvP?
New PR rep for the North American Version of RYL
www.planetwidegames.com
Well, first off, I would like to thank you for doing this interview.
Now, for my question: In a lot of MMO's out there, the developers stress that grouping is not important, but encouraged. They say that guilds are a great way to get involved in excting gameplay, but also say that there is plenty of solo content. Could you comment on the amount of solo features compared to the amount of guild-play features?
Hello, thanks Justin and everyone from MMORPG.com for the oportunity. It will be really cool to answer most of you, if not everyone's, question. Ok here I go.
For PvP tournaments, you go to the Tournament outpost, you pick your team(if not, get invited to one), and they even the teams out. Let say, 3 teams get 8 players each. Then, they join the map. When they join, they join a mission with their team, (cant give details on mission due to NDA), after you guys are done with the mission (wich is a Player vs Enviroment mission), you go to the next map. In the next map you will go vs the other teams that beated the PvE mission like your team did. The one that wins in that map, stays there untill more teams come. That is all for now for the PvP tournament.
NOTE: Things might change, this is still Alpha.
Thanks,
yeyeman.
PS. Yes I am from TGH
.
Howdy Yeye,
There has been a great deal of talk about how guild wars is breaking the mold of most mmorpg's. With so many titles coming out and so much of the same dialogue of providing a game that keeps players interested how does Guild Wars fit in? Can you maybe touch on some of these elements? I certainly plan on playing the "demo" during E3...maybe you can help get us all warmed up for it...
Thanks!
Hopefully this question wasn't too vague.
_________________________
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.
- John Wooden
How big can clan wars get?Are the clan wars only availible in tourneys?Are there player houses/towns?And can guilds own halls,cities,and castles?If they can own castles,can other guilds seige for it?Thanx a mill
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The first thing that will keep Guild Wars there ON the top, to be honest, is the No Monthly Fee part. The stream techonology will help them alot, it is totally awesome. It happened to me one day that I completed a mission. But then, I created a new character, so I needed to do that mission again, and when I did it, map was updated with some new stuff, some different stuff, and some stuff were not there nemore. Did I notice any download? Nop, when I came in, even some goals were different! It is totally awsome and it will keep the players hooked, doing missions over and over again, either because they have changed, or because they are simply fun. Also, PvP tournament will keep players there too. Thats the best part of it, the PvP, seeing how much you have improved with your skills and going vs other good players and seeing how good you are, ala First-Person Shooter. Speaking of skills, this will keep players even more on the game, the skills are basicly your character, and not exactly your level. It is a pain in the butt when you need to level up in a game, and the only thing you can do for that is kill the same monsters over and over again. But here, nah! Thats history! You just need some nice skills before you go into PvP and you can even win a "I play a lot, I am 10 levels higher than you" guy, when lets say you are a casual gamer, but you are good, you can be level 20 and beat a level 30, it is all about skills and ability. Ofcourse, there will be some competition, but again, the no monthly fee, will keep a lot of players playing this MMORPG and a MMORPG with monthly fee.
Hope that helps, somehow
.
EDIT: Typos.
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Justin Joseph
-MMORPG.COM Co-Founder-
justinjoseph@mmorpg.com
Thundercats Ho!
Yup, the game is really fun. And yeah it is a game that will keep gamers there for a long time. Also, future expansion packs will help keep gamers even more interested.
Death System: When you die you get less percentege of your health, say 10% of your health, but it is only for that mission, when you are done with the mission everything is back to normal. Although, you can clear this "death debt" by killing monsters and such.
This game sounds too good to be true!!Thank you for ansering my questions.
Ok,1 more please.Out of all the MMORPG's you've played/know about,which game(s) is this most similar to would you say?I know its a major PvP role,so is it like DAoC,L2,or even Shadowbane?Thanx agin,your the best
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What I was wondering : is there a main storyline that ties the quests together?
how does the battle system work? is it point and click, or can you charge in and control the action? also how are the spells looking so far, is there a wide variety of them? while killing monsters how do you accrue xp, and can you find items on them/ on the field? after you are killed do you lose any of your items, like your main weapon? thank you.
The Battle system is at it's basic level point and click for your normal attack. However, if you only use that, you are guranteed to lose. Unlike most games which say that you have to use your abilities to succed, in Guild Wars this is actually true. Not only do you have to use them, a whole lot of them are completely different from other games (especially the necromancers and mesmers).
Lastly, they have a story so far through the missions they have finished.
"No one can draw a clear line between sane and insane. You move that line as you see fit for yourself. No one else can. You'll understand soon... that the one that's insane is this world." - Vincent
Currently:
Playing: WOW & GW
2. are there mounts in the game? I saw somebody riding on a screenshot - was this just a monster/enemy?
3. Is only the human race playable?
4. How big is the world? Can you describe/compare it?
5. Are there non fighting features like for economy, roleplaying and socializing, too?
WARNING: Very long read lol
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Actually yeye there are more than just two PvP missions. After you finish the team vs. mob mission (pretty much to get rid of the really weak teams), your team moves onto a king of the hill type of map, which is basically a huge FFA for up to 4 different teams, and is absolutely awesome
. After this mission, the conquering team will advance to a capture the flag mission, which can also be very fun. All of the missions (even the team vs. mob one 
) are totally impossible if you team does not incorporate strategy and lots of teamwork. For example, if the warriors advance to recklessly and let the healers and casters die- your team is most likely screwed 
. This is as far as I have gotten so far in the tournament, however, I have heard there are more missions from other players. I have to express how much the other alpha testers and I all totally love the PvP action in this game- we are (I think 
) all agreed that this is the best combat system we have ever played. This is mostly due to its extreme reliance on skill rather than time put in, and strategy required if you want any success. Though high level and good equipment help of course, it is not nearly as emphasized as in most other games. A new character who is handled by a skilled player still has a chance of beating a higher level character with good equipment and more skills.
I would say, in regards to grouping/soloing, it all depends on what you like. They have made many co-op missions already, and also have created huge amounts of solo areas for those who dont have friends on to play with, or just want to do some lone wolf hunting. It all depends on what type of mentality you are in at the moment, or whether you have the chance to form a party at the time. I would also emphasize that being in a guild will probably be extremely helpful, though of course not a requirement, as you will have a group of people you will know and be able to play with, and share equipment with, and will be able to help each other quite a lot. Though the none of the guild features have been implemented as of yet, I think it is safe to say (due to the title
), it could enhance any players enjoyment of the game quite a lot.
As of now, the death system simply imposes a 15% penalty on your character maximum life and energy (mana). This penalty can be reduced and completely gotten rid of simply by defeating enemy creatures (and probably players though Im not certain, I dont remember
). As Guild Wars team has said in the past, they dont want to impose penalties like forcing you to retrieve your corpse, making you lose huge amounts of exp, items, or gold. They want you to have fun, and so they make the death penalty so that it will have a great affect on your gameplay in that map, however, as soon as you leave that specific map, the death penalties will be dropped.
As to fun factor, all of the alpha testers are already hooked to this game, and the majority of us think it is better than any other FULL versions of MMORPGs we have played. I have been only in for about a month, but I am quite addicted to it, and enjoy hooking up with my friends to play missions, PvP, etc. I am quite certain that almost anyone who plays this game will be hooked immediately and when you guys participate in the E34E I am sure you will see what I mean. You will probably drool on your keyboard waiting for the closed beta, as I did before I was accepted into alpha lol
.
I personally have not played many of the MMORPGs that are on the market these days, due to the fact that I just dont like monthly fees lmao. However certain aspects I can see compared to Diablo 2 and a few other games. The streaming technology, however, will hopefully hamper, if not destroy the cheats and hacks industries which always spring up in pretty much every game out there, as they will be able to get out new anti-cheat patches in a few hours. The streaming technology will also make a huge difference in reducing lag and prolonged waiting before maps. Whenever something new is added you will be able to download it as soon as you play the part of the world which it applies to. This also means that, unlike quite a few other games, you wont have to waste time downloading humongous new patches, ever few weeks. Instead you will get the new parts as they are created and implemented into the game.
As of right now there is only minimal storyline to tie the quests, but it is obvious they are going to add in quite a lot. There is a amazing basis for the storyline that is already apparent in the environment (most of the backround environment looks like it burned down and had a few huge earthquakes
). I think they will most likely build up on the conflict between the humans and Charr quite a bit, but this is just my opinion.
The battle system is amazing as you will read in all reports made so far. Not just for PvP but also for Player vs. Mob (monsters). Even against some of the simplest creatures you can be beaten if you just blindly charge in and sit there waiting to win. If you dont take the time to choose which skills you are bringing into that map, and which skills you are going to use in the present combat, then your opponent, be he computer or real player, can have an easy go of beating you to a pulp. At this point all you need to is click on your opponent, and you will run toward them and begin to attack them. Right now you can either use number hotkeys or click on the skills icon to use it. Again, combat is very intense and is won or lost depending on the players skill choices and their own personal skills at using their character. You will gain experience after each monster opponent is defeated, and if you are in a party then it will be distributed among the players. The item is given to a randomly chosen player, and only they can pick it up for a certain amount of time (I think it is 1 minute or 30 seconds- not sure), after this time any member of the party can pick it up. This item distribution system may be entirely changed, but it seems like a very fair way to me.
Regarding the system specs- yes they are. I have quite low specs- I got my computer in 2001 and am using all the same equipment as then, but can still view the game almost, if not as well, as it appears in the screenshots ArenaNet has released. I have a cable connection and I suffer almost no lag, unless I am running quite a few other programs in the background. As of now, there are no mounts, and I feel that they are unneeded due to the way you transport by simply clicking a location. The only place this could be used really would be in maps, and this could give a very unfair advantage to people with a mount. Yes, right now only human race is playable, and I think ti will probably be the only playable race for the release of Guild Wars, though I am hoping that they will add a few more professions
. Who knows, maybe in the expansions, they will make other races playable. Im not sure what I can say about the world right now. But you will be able to see some of the stuff they have finished (emphasize on some).
Im not sure how to answer you non-combat question, maybe another alpha tester can. Arenanet is definitely creating a large economy, but IHO I think they will not rely as much on a player driven economy as some other games have. You are open and probably encourage to do as much roleplaying as you want in this game, and its a lot of fun
.
Please hold in mind that all this information is subject to change.
P.S. as Yeyeman (a member in the same guild as me ^_^) said, this is alpha, and all of this may be subject to change before beta testing or the release of the game.
P.P.S. Im also a member of TGH (guess what name I use
)
I hope to see you all in the E34E event!
FlaminDeath
FlaminDeath
Question...
How did all of you first get involved with the alpha? Fansites or what?
Thanks for your time.
Hey- are there any classes who can float? Or perhaps a spell that floats a character off the ground while casting? Or any floating whatsoever? Thanks
FlaminDeath
FlaminDeath
My question is about the action/emotions. Like can u greet someone by waving to them and bowing to someone
and other stuff like yelling out victory and stuff like that.
FlaminDeath
FlaminDeath