Guild Wars 2 (GW2) had its third and final beta weekend event before its upcoming release. Enthusiastic gamers spent the weekend enjoying the world of Tyria, and some of them shared their experiences with me. Here’s what the rest of you have to look forward to on August 28, 2012 (or on August 25, 2012, for those who pre-order).
It’s obvious that GW2 wants to entice players with its good looks: ArenaNet has added “vistas,” to the game, panoramic, often beautiful, cutscenes of the area. I’m only just beginning to dip my toes into MMO gaming, so I’m unsure if vistas occur in other MMO games, but I’d compare them to the View Points in the Assassin’s Creed games, where an arduous climb atop a tower would be rewarded with a lovely landscape.
GW2’s quest to enter the pantheon of the MMO universe’s best-looking games (which include The Age of Conan, TERA, and The Lord of the Rings Online) extends to the look of the characters. Sam “w00pw0p” Shum said, “Best change for me though was the ability to ‘preview’ how certain armor/weapons would look on a character without the need to purchase it.”
Jesse Owens, known in GW2 as Hawthorne, said, “I thought the asura could possibly benefit from a broader range of character creation options in some areas (particularly hair styles and head shapes), but, overall, I was able to design a whole posse of characters that felt unique and that I will be happy to stare at for countless hours after the game launches.”
But it’s the gameplay that will keep players returning to GW2.
Joshua “Orthor” Filina said, “Almost out of the gate we can unlock all of the weapon abilities of the profession, as well as a handle of how the profession plays.” Unlike, say, World of Warcraft, players don’t receive game-changing abilities until they’re at higher levels.
Carl Michels, who goes by the name of Houma said, “I’m really enjoying the platforming aspects that they’ve added, even when I’m being terrible at it. There was a vista on top of our Keep in the Eternal Battlegrounds that was quite difficult that I raged at fairly hard while trying to get up there. Still enjoyed the sense of satisfaction that I got from actually accomplishing it.”
Curtiss “Elder III” Archer agreed that the puzzles were both challenging and fun. “The sense of accomplishment I had once I reached the top [of Morgan’s Leap] and looked down was immense. Seeing a few other people fall to their deaths while I was climbing just made the accomplishment all that much sweeter.”
Besides the vistas, GW2 has already differentiated itself from other MMOs with intelligent additions to the game. Take crafting:
According to Owens/Hawthorne, “I especially appreciated how all of the characters on one account share a bank. All of the crafting materials I salvaged while I was leveling up one character could be deposited to my bank from anywhere in the game by means of the handy Deposit Collectibles’ option (this feature is a godsend)…. Later, those same materials were available to my second character, a Tailor, who was able to make herself a complete set of inventory bags immediately after I created her.
“Arenanet has talked a great deal about how they wanted to replace grind with fun in this game, and this is just one of many little ways in which they totally delivered on that promise.”
One of the reasons I’ve shied away from MMOs in the past is because of the ultra-violence. I don’t mind slaying my enemies now and again, but I frequently prefer a more peaceful approach. It seems that it takes all kinds to make an MMO, and GW2 takes all kinds.
Filina/Orthor said, “I also love how you can progress however you choose, PvE, PvP (WvW), or even crafting and exploring. Heck, I can imagine the character who levels just from crafting, exploring, and non-aggressive (healing/booning/reviving) combat roles; even some of the Heart Events have non-combat aspects for completion.”
Matthew Ross, a.k.a. Murdernickle, said, “If you enjoy crafting, you get experience for it. If you enjoy gathering materials, you get experience for it. If you enjoy smacking things in the face with a giant hammer as a tiny Asuran in plate armor, you get experience for it while looking awesome.”
But not every experience was completely positive. Although he enjoyed the third beta weekend event, in addition to experiencing poor lag time, Chris Horstman, who goes by the name Pants, said he found one particular event particularly grind-y and “not fun,” helping a woman collect grapes in her vineyard.
“The problem I had with was when you picked up the grapes your 1-5 skills were replaced by environment weapon skills. Which would normally be fine if not for the fact that centaurs are attacking you and the skills the grapes give are useless. So you either have to drop the grapes or bring the[m] to the NPC while getting smacked around…. [G]oing back and forth [to] bring 15 grapes to this lady while trying to stay alive seemed menial. I would’ve been happier if I could’ve picked up multiple grapes at a time,” said Horstman.
The previous ArenaNet game, Guild Wars, was one of the best-selling games of all time, with 6.5 million players. ArenaNet may have what it takes to match, or even surpass, that number, because as Lisa “Issy” Hughes said, “This is a game for everyone, from the hardcore dungeon loot collectors and PvPers to the most casual explorers and crafters.”
Not only that, GW2 has a chance at drawing other players away from their go-to MMOs. Hughes said, “[T]his game is different from the usual MMO… Those who are ready and willing to break free from that mold may find that they never want to go back to a traditional MMO again. I know, I have tried… it just feels so constricting.”