It has nothing to do with a sandbox, there're very little character customization, no player made buildings and little player impact on the world. Just because you can pick which rides you wanna try, its still a themepark.
I do not know why its important if a game is one or the other tho. Both types of games have their market (and no, they aint the same size). But calling GW2 anything but a themepark would indicate to me that the person does not know the difference between a sandbox and themepark.
Is this another attempt to exalt GW2 to into Deity status buy giving it a its own gaming definition?
GW2 to me is a perfect fit into the Themepark mode, all the events are just rides that reset at different intervals none of them change the world and no player interaction changes the world. There is no player run economy, no player made content, loads of currencies needed to be ground out for rewards like tickets at the Themepark to swap for a huge cuddly Penguin. And finally the Living Story is the Fun Fair that moves from town to town and sets its self up on the local common for two weeks for all to have some fun on the eggs or Ferris wheel. You couldn't get more Thempark if you tried.
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It's not a sandbox since players can't make durable changes to the world. The GW2 elements closest to a sandbox would be the WvW zones, where players can change who owns parts of the land, which is affecting the world on longer term.
GW2 is definitely a theme park in my opinion, but one with unprecedented freedom given to the player. No more linear "from one quest hub to the next" leveling, and the more you progress, the more the whole world opens to you, instead of you being restricted to the few areas of your level like in the other theme parks. This is actually quite comparable to character development in sandbox games like UO (which didn't have levels at all), where the world also opened up but never became totally obsolete, but that doesn't make GW2 a sandbox.
The old school game the closest to GW2 is in my opinion AC1, which also wasn't a sandbox but gave greater freedom to the player than any of the quest hub based Wow clones.
So It's a freepark as i sead several times not a themepark
Well for me the only term I can think of to classify this kind of gameplay is freepark.
Themepark gameplay is to follow the quest hub from A to B till the end and raid till you are blue in the face while sandbox is more free play.
GW2 you are not forced to follow A to B to C in the manner you have to in a themepark game but yet you cant roam the world how you see fit.
GW2 falls in the middle of these to gameplays in my opinion, so is freepark a new genre being born in your opinion?
Heh... kind of a 'free range themepark'? I like it, that kind of sums it up nicely. The description reminds me of Disneyland when younger... we'd all get there and simply set a meeting place at a certain time and wander off where ever we wanted for the day. No rails, just go have fun.
Well for me the only term I can think of to classify this kind of gameplay is freepark.
Themepark gameplay is to follow the quest hub from A to B till the end and raid till you are blue in the face while sandbox is more free play.
GW2 you are not forced to follow A to B to C in the manner you have to in a themepark game but yet you cant roam the world how you see fit.
GW2 falls in the middle of these to gameplays in my opinion, so is freepark a new genre being born in your opinion?
Heh... kind of a 'free range themepark'? I like it, that kind of sums it up nicely. The description reminds me of Disneyland when younger... we'd all get there and simply set a meeting place at a certain time and wander off where ever we wanted for the day. No rails, just go have fun.
What knuckleheads would even thing that GW2 is not a themepark?
It's a themepark through n through, there is not "it's not a themepark nor a sandbox" however it does offer a completely different leveling experience where DEs change from time to time and news one appear. It's not the static linear quest grind linke SWTOR or Neverwinter.
Well for me the only term I can think of to classify this kind of gameplay is freepark.
Themepark gameplay is to follow the quest hub from A to B till the end and raid till you are blue in the face while sandbox is more free play.
GW2 you are not forced to follow A to B to C in the manner you have to in a themepark game but yet you cant roam the world how you see fit.
GW2 falls in the middle of these to gameplays in my opinion, so is freepark a new genre being born in your opinion?
Are you implying that when you go to Disneyland that you must view each attraction in the order that it presents itself to you?
GW2 is a themepark, end of story.
Yet it dosen't fit into the classic themepark model like WoW,RIFT,LOTRO hence the freepark name.
Actually it does perfectly. The only thing different really is the quest system which GW2 replaces with it's DEs along with a dash of vistas which are still themepark mechanics as your are along for the ride and there is no deviation. DEs might have different outcomes but it is a pass or fail sort of thing like fend off raiders, where it's either you drive em off or you need to drive em out .
Well, it feels like a single player console rpg game designed for a Super NES controller.
That must be some controller .... with more than 16 keys o.o I've actually tried playing Gw2 with a controller because controllers are just more comfortable. But there are just not enough keys to do what I do with keyboard and mouse. I don't know about the single player. I have more time in party than I have in solo so ... it must be an issue on your side. Being a jerk might be one thing. Being blind is a characteristic I try to avoid within my group. Probably most of the other people do
Well for me the only term I can think of to classify this kind of gameplay is freepark.
Themepark gameplay is to follow the quest hub from A to B till the end and raid till you are blue in the face while sandbox is more free play.
GW2 you are not forced to follow A to B to C in the manner you have to in a themepark game but yet you cant roam the world how you see fit.
GW2 falls in the middle of these to gameplays in my opinion, so is freepark a new genre being born in your opinion?
Are you implying that when you go to Disneyland that you must view each attraction in the order that it presents itself to you?
GW2 is a themepark, end of story.
Yet it dosen't fit into the classic themepark model like WoW,RIFT,LOTRO hence the freepark name.
Actually it does perfectly. The only thing different really is the quest system which GW2 replaces with it's DEs along with a dash of vistas which are still themepark mechanics as your are along for the ride and there is no deviation. DEs might have different outcomes but it is a pass or fail sort of thing like fend off raiders, where it's either you drive em off or you need to drive em out .
In reality though, quest hubs are replaced by heart quests which you do along the way with no backtracking. Dynamic events are competely *new* system compared to other themepaks.Vistas are completely optional o.o I don't know what your problem with vistas is. It's an exploration point. Nobody is telling you that you need X vistas to go to the other map. I actually found some of them very fun jumping puzzles. Not too hard, not too easy. Some of them required some thinking. I had fun. Wouldn't call it a themepark feature, just because vista points are shown on the map and you crazy people expect sandboxes with no HUD at all. Yeah ... no thanks, take your sandbox and shove it you know where
P.S: And the fact remains. Almost an year in, people are still passionate about the game. Content is being added every other week and there are no signs of slowing this trend down. Almost an year in and WvW is still producing some fun moments like ... 20 players beating the hell out of 50. Who said the zerg always wins? Not many recently released games can say the same. 3 continents, 30 servers each, no mergers.
In reality though, quest hubs are replaced by heart quests which you do along the way with no backtracking. Dynamic events are competely *new* system compared to other themepaks.Vistas are completely optional o.o I don't know what your problem with vistas is. It's an exploration point. Nobody is telling you that you need X vistas to go to the other map. I actually found some of them very fun jumping puzzles. Not too hard, not too easy. Some of them required some thinking. I had fun. Wouldn't call it a themepark feature, just because vista points are shown on the map and you crazy people expect sandboxes with no HUD at all. Yeah ... no thanks, take your sandbox and shove it you know where
Actually, heart quests were added after the fact because people were having trouble adjusting to the fact that you could join in events and get full credit without "having that quest". That was a real problem they were saying during early testing... they'd have an event going on complete with mobs attacking, fighting, effects, visuals and all that and people would walk by them because they didn't have the quest. Hearts were added for people that needed some initial direction in the game and phase out as you get to higher levels. By the time you hit Orr and Southsun there are no more hearts, it's purely DE driven.
It is a themepark. Having more zones to level in, doesn't make it less of a themepark. Also not sure why some think that if two MMO's are a themepark, they have to be exactly the same. There is always variation within the same genre.
In reality though, quest hubs are replaced by heart quests which you do along the way with no backtracking. Dynamic events are competely *new* system compared to other themepaks.Vistas are completely optional o.o I don't know what your problem with vistas is. It's an exploration point. Nobody is telling you that you need X vistas to go to the other map. I actually found some of them very fun jumping puzzles. Not too hard, not too easy. Some of them required some thinking. I had fun. Wouldn't call it a themepark feature, just because vista points are shown on the map and you crazy people expect sandboxes with no HUD at all. Yeah ... no thanks, take your sandbox and shove it you know where
Actually, heart quests were added after the fact because people were having trouble adjusting to the fact that you could join in events and get full credit without "having that quest". That was a real problem they were saying during early testing... they'd have an event going on complete with mobs attacking, fighting, effects, visuals and all that and people would walk by them because they didn't have the quest. Hearts were added for people that needed some initial direction in the game and phase out as you get to higher levels. By the time you hit Orr and Southsun there are no more hearts, it's purely DE driven.
Sadly is those who whined back then that they didn't have any form of direction dosen't play GW2, I say get rid of the hearts all together.
Well for me the only term I can think of to classify this kind of gameplay is freepark.
Themepark gameplay is to follow the quest hub from A to B till the end and raid till you are blue in the face while sandbox is more free play.
GW2 you are not forced to follow A to B to C in the manner you have to in a themepark game but yet you cant roam the world how you see fit.
GW2 falls in the middle of these to gameplays in my opinion, so is freepark a new genre being born in your opinion?
Heh... kind of a 'free range themepark'? I like it, that kind of sums it up nicely. The description reminds me of Disneyland when younger... we'd all get there and simply set a meeting place at a certain time and wander off where ever we wanted for the day. No rails, just go have fun.
Finally someone who gets it, a freepark MMO.
OP - ever heard of confirmation bias?
Take a look at the haters that tend to regurgitate each others fallacies and you'll see it on full display here.
it's a single player console themepark deal with it.Having other people in a party makes no diffrence, WvW makes no sense and guilds are no sense at all aswell.It's a game where you run as chickens and jump onto a castle siege where nothing really happens.
Seriously? Are we going to divide the themeparks into different categories now? There are more themeparks that offer more freedom then for example WoW does. But sure, we could create a new little category box for our single favourite themepark MMO.
With as result that every discussion about MMO's will result into a silly timeconsuming and utterly useless semantic discussion where 100 participants have their 100 unique opinions about those small sub categories. And for what? Just to be able to call your precious favourite MMO something other then what it is, a themepark
Comments
It has nothing to do with a sandbox, there're very little character customization, no player made buildings and little player impact on the world. Just because you can pick which rides you wanna try, its still a themepark.
I do not know why its important if a game is one or the other tho. Both types of games have their market (and no, they aint the same size). But calling GW2 anything but a themepark would indicate to me that the person does not know the difference between a sandbox and themepark.
Is this another attempt to exalt GW2 to into Deity status buy giving it a its own gaming definition?
GW2 to me is a perfect fit into the Themepark mode, all the events are just rides that reset at different intervals none of them change the world and no player interaction changes the world. There is no player run economy, no player made content, loads of currencies needed to be ground out for rewards like tickets at the Themepark to swap for a huge cuddly Penguin. And finally the Living Story is the Fun Fair that moves from town to town and sets its self up on the local common for two weeks for all to have some fun on the eggs or Ferris wheel. You couldn't get more Thempark if you tried.
This doom and gloom thread was brought to you by Chin Up the new ultra high caffeine soft drink for gamers who just need that boost of happiness after a long forum session.
So It's a freepark as i sead several times not a themepark
If it's not broken, you are not innovating.
Heh... kind of a 'free range themepark'? I like it, that kind of sums it up nicely. The description reminds me of Disneyland when younger... we'd all get there and simply set a meeting place at a certain time and wander off where ever we wanted for the day. No rails, just go have fun.
Oderint, dum metuant.
Are you implying that when you go to Disneyland that you must view each attraction in the order that it presents itself to you?
GW2 is a themepark, end of story.
Finally someone who gets it, a freepark MMO.
If it's not broken, you are not innovating.
Yet it dosen't fit into the classic themepark model like WoW,RIFT,LOTRO,SWTOR hence the freepark name.
If it's not broken, you are not innovating.
What knuckleheads would even thing that GW2 is not a themepark?
It's a themepark through n through, there is not "it's not a themepark nor a sandbox" however it does offer a completely different leveling experience where DEs change from time to time and news one appear. It's not the static linear quest grind linke SWTOR or Neverwinter.
Its Casualpark
(Retired)- Anarchy Online/Ultima Online/DAoC/Horizonsz/EQ2/SWG/AC1&2/L2/SoR/WoW/TMO/Requiem/Atlantica Online/Manibogi/Rift+(SL)/Lol/Hon/SWTOR/Wakfu/Champions Online/GW/Lotr/CO/TcoS/Tabula Rasa/Meridian 59/Vanguard/Shadowbane/Fury/SotW/Dreamlords/HGL/RoM/DDO/FFXI/Aoc/Eve/Warhammer Online/Gw2/TSW/Tera/Defiance/STO/AoW/DE/Firefall/Darkfall/Neverwinter/PS2/ESO/FF14/Archeage/Gw2
Actually it does perfectly. The only thing different really is the quest system which GW2 replaces with it's DEs along with a dash of vistas which are still themepark mechanics as your are along for the ride and there is no deviation. DEs might have different outcomes but it is a pass or fail sort of thing like fend off raiders, where it's either you drive em off or you need to drive em out .
That must be some controller .... with more than 16 keys o.o I've actually tried playing Gw2 with a controller because controllers are just more comfortable. But there are just not enough keys to do what I do with keyboard and mouse. I don't know about the single player. I have more time in party than I have in solo so ... it must be an issue on your side. Being a jerk might be one thing. Being blind is a characteristic I try to avoid within my group. Probably most of the other people do
In reality though, quest hubs are replaced by heart quests which you do along the way with no backtracking. Dynamic events are competely *new* system compared to other themepaks.Vistas are completely optional o.o I don't know what your problem with vistas is. It's an exploration point. Nobody is telling you that you need X vistas to go to the other map. I actually found some of them very fun jumping puzzles. Not too hard, not too easy. Some of them required some thinking. I had fun. Wouldn't call it a themepark feature, just because vista points are shown on the map and you crazy people expect sandboxes with no HUD at all. Yeah ... no thanks, take your sandbox and shove it you know where
P.S: And the fact remains. Almost an year in, people are still passionate about the game. Content is being added every other week and there are no signs of slowing this trend down. Almost an year in and WvW is still producing some fun moments like ... 20 players beating the hell out of 50. Who said the zerg always wins? Not many recently released games can say the same. 3 continents, 30 servers each, no mergers.
Consider that just because all those games are themeparks, it doesn't mean every themepark is like those games.
Every Porsche is a car*, not every car is a Porsche.
*i know, technically, there are things with the Porsche brand that aren't cars, whatever.
Actually, heart quests were added after the fact because people were having trouble adjusting to the fact that you could join in events and get full credit without "having that quest". That was a real problem they were saying during early testing... they'd have an event going on complete with mobs attacking, fighting, effects, visuals and all that and people would walk by them because they didn't have the quest. Hearts were added for people that needed some initial direction in the game and phase out as you get to higher levels. By the time you hit Orr and Southsun there are no more hearts, it's purely DE driven.
Oderint, dum metuant.
Sadly is those who whined back then that they didn't have any form of direction dosen't play GW2, I say get rid of the hearts all together.
If it's not broken, you are not innovating.
Nope - GW1 was that. There is no lobby - you are in areas with many other people. Just because you think it is this way doesn't make it so.
Guild Wars 2 is not a themepark or sandbox, so what is it?
I would paste you the title few more times if you want but let me break it down for you
Guild Wars 2 - The name of the game
Is not a themepark - Not in the traditional sense
or sandbox - The title clearly states at exactly this point that the game (e.g. Guild Wars 2) is not sandbox and is not considered one.
, so wat is it - The OP is asking what the players think it is since according to him it is NOT a themepark neither it is a sandbox
With that being said, your post is completely and utterly unnecessary
Take a look at the haters that tend to regurgitate each others fallacies and you'll see it on full display here.
Oderint, dum metuant.
beLIEve
Seriously? Are we going to divide the themeparks into different categories now? There are more themeparks that offer more freedom then for example WoW does. But sure, we could create a new little category box for our single favourite themepark MMO.
With as result that every discussion about MMO's will result into a silly timeconsuming and utterly useless semantic discussion where 100 participants have their 100 unique opinions about those small sub categories. And for what? Just to be able to call your precious favourite MMO something other then what it is, a themepark