PC Gamer May 2007 Information - "Guild Wars Reborn"

I don't know if anyone has posted this already, I'm not going to read all posts. The point is, just because you can get to level 100+ doesn't mean your health will be 15000. You will just have a high level, to show off how much you can farm trolls, with the regular stats of a level 20 character; or atleast this is my assumption.

I'm sorry. I saw this on the way to "post reply". And again, I am sorry for bashing on you.

If you actually read the first post, you'd see that GW:2 has (To quote Gaile Gray)

No.
Monthly.
Fees.

And on a side-note, please use periods, that one sentence was very hard to read, there were about 7-8 different topics in that one sentence.

Now for my actual post...

I think I am one of the few that thinks this is a great step forward for Anet, in the sense that I always loved high levels (Really nice to see a whole bunch of different numbers, not N/Mo20 W/Mo20 E/Me20, etc.). I just hope it'll be a nice long experience.

The more I think about it, the better it all really sounds. So these characters will die of natural causes and there ancestors will continue the fight. We'll just had to hold all our judgments until the beta. So lets just hope that GW:EN kicks a lot of arse to tide us over.

Sounds like I would love most of it...the one MASSIVE flaw that ANet is making is raising the level cap to a possible infinity. I would prefer no changes, and if they had to change it, I would prefer only to level 25 or 30. Infinite will unbalance gameplay and destroy the concepts that make GW unique from WoW, EQ, and the other cruddy games out there. The most unique things about GW are the LEVEL CAP and the NO MONTHLY FEES. Without those, it's WoW in a place called Tyria.

.....most likely level = power, and if level = power then level will also equal grind. Missions and monsters will be designed to give you a challenge depending on the "power" you have. Because the world is persistent this problem will only get worse since there is very little way to "personalize" the enviorment to meet the level of the player unlike in instance.

hmmm im excited, I though I would never leave gw, i did after factions, i have NF, but i haven't opened it.

I can't wait to explore the charrs homeland. YaY ^^. as for gw2, Im definately buying it I can't wait)) something new

It's official. The Devs themselves said that the level cap is not gonna unbalance pvp and gvg.

GvG and competitive pvp will still gonna be level limited and item limited.i.e all player will have same level and weapons and mods. No unbalance there.

The main deference between GW1 & GW2 will be pve ... and from what i read, much more pve content. Ppl can actually play PvE for the Pve content now...instead of playing pve to make a pvp char like in GW1.

....this isn't good at all for pvp'ers. I see all of the pvp community trying GW2 for 2-3 months then quickly returning to Gw1, I mean this seriously is a great large...anyway, I guess pve'ers finally have their game...

I suggest that people actually read the article. as nice as the OP's post is, it doesnt have all the info and it doesnt go in depth to why they want to change certain things, and what things they wont change.

most of the hate so far seems to come from confuseion rather then from all the info

Ok after reading that little tidbit, I'm fully hyped back up for GW2. I almost felt like I should just stop playing GW since all of my accomplishmens would get left behind, but I'm loving this idea. Great way to reward people playing the original GW while still starting fresh. So now my new characters can carry on the legacy my originals left behind. Now they just need to bring over my Divine Aura

Sooooo....

Are these Charr gonna be bad guys, or are there gonna be enemy factions at all? I don't think the article stated anything about it.

The reasoning being, I don't want to be segregated from my friends because I'm playing an "evil" race and they're playing "good" races.

I guess we'll just have to wait til GW:EN, huh?

What angers me is

When I read the PC gamer article, I found towards the end there was a programmer talking about Guild Wars as a failed experiment, saying that it was only popular because it could give out content every 6 months or so. It pisses me off, because Guild Wars is such a unique game, different from many MMO's. I mean, how can a programmer of Ultima Online talk shit about GW. Frankly, he's gonna make Tabula Rising bad too ^^. That's my opinion, though. I love Guild Wars for what it is, and the difference compared to all those other MMOs we all see too often.

Oh..

GUILD WARS 2 IS GONNA ROCK. For those who say it's gonna be like "WoW', ANET is assuring us it's gonna keep what's made Guild Wars unique. I trust em.

I'm pretty sure the quote on the guru front page was a followup comment from the same person

Persistant worlds (limited instancing) and a raised level cap? I guess that means I'm done with the franchise after EN. Pity.

Reread the article... The game is basically the same with instanced maps

The only time the game will be persistent will be during special event where all players present will get the same rewards in other words, it's a way for the community to gather and share the fun... you are in no obligation to attend the events if you prefer to play solo.

What is CoH?

This place is drunk on acronyms.

Do they address higher level caps in detail, and whether or not that might contribute to a grind or elitism? I don't have the magazine. Thanks.

CoH is City of Heroes? or i may be wrong...

Ah! Thanks Boko. I've heard of that game.

Of all the arguments pro and con made regarding this issue, this is really the outstanding point in my mind. This seems to be a case of comparing "apples to oranges" so to speak.

I think I speak for a significant portion of the Guild Wars community when I say that many of us have invested not only a great deal of time, but also emotional energy into the characters we play as in the game. This is certainly not news to an MMORPG, but I feel like the focus of many of the arguments made surrounding GW2 have perhaps missed the heart of the issue.

It seems a bit difficult to compare Guild Wars to games such as Diablo II, Half-Life 2, Railroads, and other such games. There is a vast difference in the gaming community's expectations of a tradtional computer game and an MMOG. Diablo II made no claims of being an updating, perpetuating, pervasive online environment, dependant upon a company to steer its direction and ultimate lifespan. It was a game in a box - a finished product, (save patches), and noone expected it to evolve or to grow when it was purchased. Railroads wasn't predicated on having an ever-changing social component that drove its gameplay experience. Half-Life had no sense of inventory, no choices as to the protagonist's color, style, or creed, no long hours spent to finally gain the elusive machine gun.

It really boils down to two simple things: investment and expectations.

I have never, and I'd venture to say many other gamers have never invested 1000+ hours in any ONE non-MMO style game before. The time spent playing Guild Wars isn't simply time spent playing a game, it's time spent building characters that the player believes in. There is an unspoken expectation among many gamers, (myself included), that by relinquishing control of the gaming environment to the company in an MMO style game, we are gaining in return some degree of assurance that the gaming world as we know it will continue. [Note: Yes I realize GW will continue to operate, I'll clarify what I mean shortly.] What I expect out of an MMOG such as Guild Wars is quite different than what I expect out of a game like Diablo II. The investment of time in games such as were listed above is done knowing that they are a static environment - and the gamers' eyes are open to the fact that it simply "is what it is."

MMOG's age, and the do eventually end. What I really think is unfortunate is that the Guild Wars community will be split - forced to make a choice between inhabiting the old Guild Wars world where many gamers still wish to play, and moving on to a new (I'm sure very well executed and exciting) Guild Wars world that is disconnected from the old. It would be like Burning Crusade (WoW expansion) forcing gamers to choose between playing the original WoW and the new BC, but not allowing the two to be connected.

I guess the feeling I'm left with is that of a fork in the road. The GW community will have to choose between GW and GW2 (though a few will play both, I'm sure), however it seems as though there is an unnecessary internal rift being created in the community. The time and imagination invested in character creation is not something to be left behind lightly, even if the remnants are passed on through an upcoming mechanism.

Isn't it supposed to be "the competition's" job to split the game community, drawing off part of them into another gaming environment?

One final thought: Guild Wars isn't a game to be played, beaten, and ended. That's not what the community expected when buying it, it's not what we expected while playing it, and what's disappointing is not that it will gracefully age, it's that it seems it will be depopulated ahead of its time. Noone said it would go away, but what fun is there in an MMOG where the towns are empty, the parties are all NPC, and noone is around to trade, emote, appreciate armor upgrades, and enjoy celebrations with?