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Sooo..how will GW2 Individual Player experience work? & will there be contested Lands?
Projectseph
Member Posts: 18
I origionally posted this in another forum for different reasons, but was persuaded to come here to recieve an explanation.
I posted this:
"But that also being said, GW2 claims to have an individualized experience for every player.
As in, I burn down a bridge for a quest, and the whole player base is affected<-- Although I wonder how it will work out since there will be hundreds of players and how many bridges? And what then happens? Do ALL the hypothetical bridges stay burned down for good? Until they run out? Or does somebody else start a quest to re-build the bridge, and make my little feat of "architectural arson" redundant."
I watched a trailer for the game, and having never played GW1, I don't have any experience in the style of gameplay.
The trailer made it sound as though the DEVS didn't want the fact that "You kill a quest boss, and the world isn't REALLY affected...because in 2-3 minutes the boss respawns as though nothing happened. Just waiting for the next guy to complete the quest"<---or something to that effect.
The DEVS made it sound as though the game world would be affected by the players actions.
So I was wondering how exactly they meant this to work? And in what level of depth it would work?
What I mean is, say for WoW, you get a quest to burn down a bridge then kill some guy.
-I burn the bridge (Watch it go up in flames)..it disappears for a minute, I go kill the guy, then in another minute the bridge respawns, I can still walk across it (even though it was meant to now be non-existent to me) And the guy just pops back up in-front of me...sometimes killing me if I went afk or hung around too long not paying attention.
But if GW2 is different, how will this work? I am curious. Maybe I misunderstood, but they seemed to stress this point on the trailer.
My other question:
Will there be contested lands in GW2?
I rather enjoy the fact that in a lot of areas in the game, you can be *ambushed* in a flash without having a choice. (Well, I did have a choice,A: when I initially joined a server and chose PvP..and decided that I would need to be on my toes in some areas of the game. and B: choosing to avoid the contested area or pick a class that can *hide* or *escape* easily from enemies.)
I find it very exciting, and makes the game THAT much more enjoyable for me.
I do not like that to PvP I must join a battleground, or that I must flag myself as PvP active.
I prefer that on the particular server you agreed to, that you understand sh!t can and will happen if you don't focus.
Comments
First off, welcome.
There's three parts of GW2 I need to talk about in order to answer your question. There's the open world which features Dynamic Events, there's the Personal Story which is solo and instanced, and then there's World PVP.
In the Manifesto Trailer, it's slightly confusing the way it's cut. Colin Johanson is talking about Dynamic Events. Ree Soesbee is talking about the Personal Story (though what she says also pretty much applies to DEs)
Ok Dynamic Events. The open world of GW2 doesn't have quests, it has events. A lot of these can happen whether players are there or not. They're entirely cooperative. Everyone in GW2 is on the same faction and a good guy. They actually happen to the game world and have persistent (not permanent) consequences. So for instance, Centaurs attack a bridge. There won't be a quest to pick up, but rather you'll see them attacking and NPCs running down the road yelling that centaurs are attacking. If players stop them, the bridge is saved and then the event might chain into another event which is a counterattack. If the players fail, the bridge will be destroyed and there will lead to another event where you try to fight off the centaurs and assist NPCs in rebuilding the bridge. If you fail that event, the bridge will stay destroyed for as long as it takes until someone fights them off (literally months or whatever, it won't reset).
In the open world, you can't burn down a friendly bridge (though you'll undoubtedly help destroy enemy things). When Colin is talking about a single act by a player, he's talking about whether you help or not (or are successful or not) and how that will change the landscape in different directions. Waypoints can be lost, merchants won't have certain items to sell (or will be dead).
Personal Story. Each character in GW2 has a biography at character creation. There's a smaller part of the game which compliments the open world and that is your character's personal story. Based on the questions at creation and the decisions you make in game, you'll do a solo, branching, instanced story with permanent consequences. Each player has a Home Instance, which is an entire section of town which will show these. I see Shoju commented about one of the choices which is to save an Orphanage or a Hospital. Whichever one you don't save stays destroyed. NPCs you know can live or die. Think of this as your character's one big epic quest from beginning to end.
World PVP. There are contested lands in GW2 and those take place in World PVP. Unlike other games which divide up the players into factions, GW2 has huge server vs server vs server battles that take place 24/7 and last 2 weeks. They take place over 4 giant maps which can hold at least 500 players apiece. They have capturable points and dynamic events of their own. For instance, if you capture a central keep and a mine, a DE will start which will try to deliver ore to the keep. Other players can try to take it. There will also be artillery and destructable environments. These zones are separate from PVE but not technically instanced, as everyone taking part goes to the same ones. I really don't think of them as a battleground because they're going to be so big and varied. At the end of the two-week period, servers are matched up against new servers based on W/L and strength, so they'll be even more challenging and fresh than always fighting the same people.
I hope that helps and the wall of text didn't scare you off. It's just that GW2 is really trying to do a lot of things differently so I can't just give you a one line answer. Please feel free to follow up with any more questions. We'll be happy to help.
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it." -Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
Your personal story questline is where you will see the 'permanent' effects of the decisions you make reflected. There are no tap backs if you choose the save the hospital and not the orphanage. The homeless oprphans that will now litter the streets of your home district (in Divinity's Reach if Human) will be a constant reminder of the choice that you made.
An impressive wall of text. However if the OP wants something more tangible to help him/her understand the basics of this game, then check out Total Biscuit's channel, to see the game from the perspective of someone who's playing it for the 1st time.
Thanks Cali, I really apreciate the effort you put in.
Rather than quoteing the "Wall" i'll just assume you know what you wrote
So GW2 does sound like a fun game. Different.
But I guess since I have been indoctrinated by WoW as my first real mainstream MMO, I still automatically set it as my standard.
So as it sounds like atm, Everyone in game are friends..well, at least allies as far as the game is concerned.
Fighting off hordes of enemies (i.e Centaurs) and defending the towns. Pretty much a giant PvE instance. (running constantly)
..Unless you step into a battleground in which case you are set amongst other servers?Guilds? Which for all intents and purposes is your giant PvP instance? (running 24/7 2 weeks at a time)
And apart from all that, then you also have your own little private world to complete certain "Character specific" quests?
Is this right so far?
And the game is B2P? or P2P?
Thanks for the thought, but sorry I cant view this link. I am in China atm, and they ban too much crap to keep track of. And proxies are being blocked daily here.
(plus, loading some websites and vids on proxies takes forever from here)
-I sincerely hope all thee "new great MMO's like GW2 arent released for another year or so...when I am back home
The personal story quests are 'private' so to speak, but you can invite your friends to join you on them and you can join them in theirs in return. but that is about as private as it gets. The rest of the 1-80 PvE game (excluding the instanced dungeons) is out in the open world with everyone else on your server.
The game will be b2p too.
It sounds ..well, so far I can only say Ok. Since I havent seen eough, and since I will miss the rush I get from sneaking around the world (primarily consisting of contested zones) in stealth, ambushing and questing whilst avoiding being ambushed.
If everyone steps into a Battleground PvP instance, then everyone is "ready" to fight..which can sometimes take the fun and/or anticipation away from the surprise of spotting a "lost sheep" trying to finish off that last quest mob.
That will most probably the case in the team vs team PvP, but the server vs. server (WvWvW) will be taking place over 4 large maps, containing their own dynamic event objectives so I am sure there will be plenty of chances to pick off lost sheep that are caught out in the open in these zones.
Great post dude
BOYCOTTING EA / ORIGIN going forward.
Yeah, in the open world everybody are allies. ArenaNet is really trying to make the open world a social, cooperative experience. Everybody taking part in a DE is rewarded based on how much they participate. Everybody who helps kill a mob (5% or more damage) gets full xp and loot for it, even if ungrouped. There's also "literally hundreds" of cross profession combos so people can work together visually (ranger shooting arrows through an elementalist fire wall for extra damage). Everybody can rez everybody, even mid combat. They want other players to never hurt you but it goes further than that. They want you to want to see other players, not just ignore them, compete with them, or be annoyed by them.
The Personal Story (thanks Shoju for talking about how you can invite friends to it) is yeah, your own little world. Certain questions of the biography will change it greatly, such as if you're human and you're born as a noble, commoner, or street rat. It should offer a lot in the way of replayability. It is one big epic questline. You won't be killing rats for someone you never met before, it'll be you dealing with local problems before venturing out and making your own impact on the fight with the elder dragons.
World PVP takes place against other servers. Unlike other games which divide up a server's population, world pvp makes the battles larger by putting everyone on one server against two others. It also deals with faction population imbalances, since it doesn't matter if there are more humans than asura. It balances things out too across servers by matching them up against new servers at the end of the two weeks. If one server wins by fielding a ton of people, they'll play against teams that also won (possibly because of their ton of people) so it'll be more even next time. There will be things for everyone to do. Solo players might try to capture things like the ore shipments I talked about. Small groups might try to take the mine itself. Large groups or guilds might try to take the keep.
There are also dungeons in the game which I haven't mentioned yet. There's not going to be any raids in GW2, but it's by design. They don't want to put any mandatory grinds in the game. They also don't want vertical power progression. There will be dungeons and elite events for people who want a challenge, but the emphasis is on replayability and just doing whatever you find to be fun, not because you have to. There are 8 dungeons in the game at launch, but really it's 32 because each dungeon will have a Story Mode and 3+ Explorable Modes. The Story Mode is full of cutscenes and you help a disbanded group of NPC badasses get back together again. The much harder explorable modes deal with the aftermath of the story mode. There will be random and hidden dynamic events in the dungeons as well so that it'll be a fresher than traditional experience each time.
And yes, it's still B2P like the first one. There will be expansions but possibly at a slower rate than the first one (they found the 6 month schedule kept them from putting in the things they wanted to do). There will also be a cash shop but it won't sell power, just things like vanity items and extra character slots. Buy the box, play it forever, no need to buy anything from the cash shop or even buy expansions if you don't want to. They'll be voluntary purchases as well.
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it." -Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
With GW2, as I was saying in my previous post, the emphasis won't be on an endgame that people rush to. They want you to do whatever you find to be fun. There's a real emphasis on replayability in the game. One of the things they'll be doing is adding new dynamic events to zones continuously right from launch. So if you go back to a zone you'll see some new things happening.
Another thing too which speaks to your concern about "missing out" is that the game automatically mentors people down in power when they go do a lower level event or dungeon. You'll still be powerful, but not so overpowering that you can one-shot everything. Originally done to prevent griefing, it also lets anybody play with anybody regardless of level (you can also be manually sidekicked up to another player). Players will still get meaningful rewards for taking part in this lower level content.
So you're not going to miss out on anything if the game comes out before you're back.
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it." -Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
@op, forget everything and anything you learned from WoW, if you want to enjoy GW2. It's just way too different. Don't expect it to be the better WoW and don't expect it (GW2) to follow the same rules.
OP, this is a good read for your question:
http://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/dynamic-events/dynamic-events-overview/
Alas, that won't stop slapheads from trying to rush to it.
This should help you,obviously not my doing but it's great information.
Cali does a great job at describing GW2. So I would definitely listen to what he is saying.
I should also put in that there are plenty of other things to do, besides "questing" (we really have to come up with a new name for that). I know in GW1, there was a large crowd devoted to exploring. There were people who wanted to map out and see every inch of the world ArenaNet created. So if you want to do that, you may. Along the way, you may find some hidden artifact that may begin a rare dynamic event.
If you are juts lazy and don't want to do anything, you could craft or do minigames. Within each major city (Divinities Reach, Black Citadel, etc.), there are a bunch of mini-games that you can do. These include things from bar brawls (yes there will be bar brawls), to I think keg throwing.
Most importantly I should say this, do not try to compare this game to WoW. It's difficult for everyone to compare a new game to another game. It's inevitable that GW2 will be compared to WoW. My advise is to take GW2 for what it is, another MMO that you may or may not enjoy, and leave it at that. Despite all the WoW-hate you see, most new games will pale in comparison to WoW in terms of content, polish, and bugs. So look at GW2 through the eyes of someone who's new to MMOs, rather than someone whose played an MMO for a while (and WoW was their first).
All i can say OP is that i have linked alot for you but this link and the INFO is the best you will see up to this date,it's an epic wealth of GW2 information and lore.
Badtozebones sweeps all before him with this epic write up.
Welcome to the Underground.
http://tu.guildportal.com/Guild.aspx?GuildID=19665&ForumID=219188&TabID=178431&TopicID=9852805&Page=3
Well, in a way there actually are raids, they just aren't instanced. Boss events pretty much fullfill all criteria of a raid, minus the private instance, the elitism, and the stupid gear grind ofc
Hey,
Basically it is unfair to describe the WvWvW as a mere Battleground. At least from what we have been told. It is stated that these giant battlefields with vehicles, trebuchets, siege tanks, castles that can be overtaken and so on, can hold over 400-500 players. It's you and your entire server, against two other servers. Basically everyone on your server is your ally in the questing PvE world, and then you go in with all of them, and fight to be the best server. They feel this will create a better community.
It also removes language restrictions and from friends playing together. In SWTOR one of my guild friends is playing empire, while I am playing republic, and neither of us wants to move, so we cant really play together, but we picked our choices based on race and class.
For the final part of your post, Peters, a developer at ArenaNet have said that there will be lots of places inside this WvWvW for you to ambush a lonesome player. Because it will be so massive, many players will travel off from the main battle and go do other stuff in the zone - capture mines, mills and and other stuff for the war. Thiefs will be able to go into stealth and sneak up on people unexpected, so don't worry about the ambush gameplay.
I personally think it's a better solution, because the idea of jumping a player in the pve world with 10% health left after fighting a mob. It really serves no purpose. I at least don't find it fun, though im not really bothered by it when it happens to me, but some people are really bothered by it.
It seems like the world pvp feeling will be in these WvWvW zones. Don't worry. This is an aspect of the game we haven't seen yet, and everyone is excited to see how it will work.
Thanks to all the people who say I do a good job describing the game or make them excited about it. I think I just write more than most. I find myself missing things all the time, so thanks to everybody who is catching my omissions.
For me, Meowhead is the one who I think does the best job of describing the game. This is a great thread for reading about GW2's philosophy of design. I really think this needs to be stickied.
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/336987/The-Tao-of-Arenanet.html
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it." -Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
So you miss preying on the weak for sport? I'm sorry, but that's one PvP attitude I've always found reprehensible and one that I'm glad to see disappearing from modern MMOs. Really. So a guy who doesn't PvP much joins an RP-PvP server just because a friend is there, and tries to stay out of harm's way, but he's preyed on by every lamer who isn't able to hack it in the Battlegrounds?
There's a reason that instanced PvP is called competitive for a reason, because there's absolutely nothing competitive about open world stuff, it's cowardly and insidious, and it's played by people looking for an easy kill, because they'd be too ashamed to show up in a true PvP match.
I mean, really, the only time I find preying on the weak acceptible is when it has to be done for survival, and no creature can disobey its own instinctive drive for survival. But there's none of that in taking some clueless guy down. There's no honour to it, there's no dignity, it's just the action of someone who has no self-respect, no self-image to live up to, someone who's happy with just scraping the barrel for minor thrills.
My only response to that is: Stop being such a coward, suck it up and get into the Battlegrounds if you want to PvP. In Guild Wars 2 that will be your only choice, and if you can't hack it, don't PvP.
Well, I do have to say that you have quite a close minded view on the subject considering you play an MMORPG....
Massively Multiplayer Online <---So, lots of people...</p>
Role Playing Game <-----I play the role of my character</p>
Now, I don't mean to sound condescending, but too many people forget this point when considering what they call "griefing" or "cowardice"
(And this point was also brought up briefly by Kalfer too)
Now when I play "WoW" for example, I play an Undead Rogue. An Assassin. A dark, unwavering, unyeilding, remorseless killer. A hunter of prey of all sorts, all shapes and sizes.
This is the ethos of my character, and I have created him to play his role.
Just the same as if you decided to make a highly social Night Elf "gift giver", who ran around dancing for people and giving them free Ale from the local Inn. <---Now if that was the role you wished to play, then is it not your choice?</p>
It's called "Role Playing" for a reason, and thats because if my ethos is a cold, brutal killer, then that is what I will be.
I stalk prey out questing or simply travelling/exploring.
Why? To dissrupt their levelling. They are, after all, on the opposite faction.
Why else? I am an Undead Assassin...a cold, brutal killer.
I need no other explanation than this. This is my role, it is an option available to me, and is what I identified with at the time.
This does NOT mean I do not participate in "Battlegrounds" or "Arenas" and kill people my own level. DO not assume cowardice because somebody ALSO see's fit to assume their role on a world-wide scale rather than simply confined to a battleground or arena.
Agan I will stress. You think picking on low levels in Open World PvP is cowardly and insidious? Well just remember, you ARE in fact playing a role playing game. And somebody is simply assuming the role of their character..the exact same as when a high level tank farms all 100 mobs from your quest area and leave you with nothing.
End of the day, he/she is simply fulfilling the role they chose, and it happened to work out for them...and not for some other.
He can do things I cannot, And I can do things he cannot.
A human see's a giant orc warrior running around the area, he knows to be weary and re-position himself..or move.
A human doesn't see that rogue stealthing in the bushes behind that next mob....well too bad. I get the satisfaction of sating my thirst.
An assasin, a stealthy fighter from the shadows, by very nature hides in the darkness and stalks prey....or all shapes and sizes.
And by the by, it IS Massively Multiplayer. You have every option to socialize enough to gain a good friend-base that if you are in fact being griefed by a killer, then you obviously need to do what you would do if you were in that position yourself;
A:Get stronger (takes time obviously)
B:Go somewhere else...
C:Call for backup <----thats why it's massively multiplayer and is a SOCIAL game.</p>
If you don't like the interactions between other players (including the bad ones like being stalked and executed while questing) then you chose the wrong path playing a game with an opposite faction on a pvp based server....ONLINE.
Wow that was quite a journey there :P
But on a much better note, I must give a thanks to granrey & shoju for their help and input.
And a big thanks especially to Cali 59 & sylvarii for all the great information they have provided me.
I must say it is a brand new concept as an MMO for me, and does sound intruiging. Some parts, i agree, I will need to get used to since playing WoW, but then again, theres nobody saying I cant play 2 or 3 MMO's at once....
And the WvWvW pvp does sound like a breath of fresh air.
I'm imagining playing pvp in GW2 and noticing Team1 is becomming a powerhouse, and crushing Team2.
We, as Team3 are plotting quietly...
The phrase, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" comes to mind.
Usually in Team1 vs Team2 pvp matches, it becomes obvious that sometimes, you are just outmatched..and will lose, whereas I think in the team1 vs team2 vs team3 match, there are endless chances to turn the tables on your foes by teaming up with the other side, or using their distractions to your advantage.
The idea is quite appealing from a tactical standpoint.
Back off, jeez. First of all, he said he likes the need to look over his shoulder, not only the ability to gank. It's a two-way road. Second, this is a playstyle I and many others enjoy (the danger aspect), so screw off on your high and mighty attitude. If someone doesn't want the risk, they shouldn't join the server, period. "But my friend is on a PvP server" is not a valid argument.
It's a game. Grow up or get out.
"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." -Dr. Seuss
Project,
Could one possibly email the videos to you?