Guild Wars 2

[Eltiana]

The graphics and art design look fantastic. Much more realistic than WoW but still with a appealing softness that's lacking from a lot of games. It's like an oil painting come to life. I'm willing to give it a try based on that alone.

My main worry is that the combat system will be too "twitchy" for my ability level, and too latency-sensitive. Playing WoW from Australia leads to all kinds of silliness on timing and position sensitive effects (e.g. To avoid Asaad's static cling you have to jump so early that you've landed again by the time his cast goes off, and anything that requires manual aiming is particularly tedious).

I'm also not much of a one for PvP, which seems to be the primary end-game focus of GW2. Out of all the BGs though, I like the big ones like AV the best, so perhaps WvWvW will be fun. Level and gear normalization should make casual PvP a lot more viable than it is in WoW too.

Yeah that is a big concern for Australian players, whether or not there will be Oceanic servers. As to the manual aiming part, their is a target system, so manual aiming is not needed, just available for those who want it.

There are no raids in GW2 and thus no traditional endgame. 'Endgame' for PVEers is going to be dungeon running, finishing off your personal story, and doing the elite world boss events in the game, as well as just exploring/etc for content missed.

The way I look at it, I think it's better to look at GW2 more as a console game with MMO aspects than as a traditional MMO. Once you are 'done' with the game, you can play through the content over again, find all the little side quests you missed and otherwise play the multiplayer aspects ala dungeons/pvp.

[Eltiana]

Collector's Edition and System Requirements announced. Also Pre-purchase bonuses.

https://buy.guildwars2.com/

[Era]

Goddammit ArenaNet... You now get combat-related benefits for buying a more expensive version? How in the world is that a good idea. >_<

I'm sure the Hero's Band and Mistfire Wolf won't be all that powerful, but still. Dick move.

[Eltiana]

Goddammit ArenaNet... You now get combat-related benefits for buying a more expensive version? How in the world is that a good idea. >_<

I'm sure the Hero's Band and Mistfire Wolf won't be all that powerful, but still. Dick move.

Can't speak for the wolf, but the band is really weak. Level 80 gear stats are in the hundreds, while that ring's stats are single digits. I doubt the wolf will be any better than any other elite skill honestly.

[ryan4nayr]

The price tags are... up there. In a Forbes.com article,

The Guild Wars 2 Collector’s Edition will retail for $150, the Digital Deluxe will sell for $80 and the Standard Edition will go for $60 when the game ships later in 2012.

I'm glad they have the minimum requirements listed already, I can start building my new rig.

[Fridmarr]

I've stopped playing SWTOR and cancelled my account, it was a good game, but after the leveling experience (which was great) it just became another MMO end game.

GW2 might be more what I was looking for, and that is an MMO I can play once a blue moon and not feel like I've fallen behind. Though I could be totally wrong in that. I'm not at all familiar with the franchise. I didn't bother signing up for the beta, but I have a few friends that did, so I'll probably get a glance or two at it through them.

[Eltiana]

I've stopped playing SWTOR and cancelled my account, it was a good game, but after the leveling experience (which was great) it just became another MMO end game.

GW2 might be more what I was looking for, and that is an MMO I can play once a blue moon and not feel like I've fallen behind. Though I could be totally wrong in that. I'm not at all familiar with the franchise. I didn't bother signing up for the beta, but I have a few friends that did, so I'll probably get a glance or two at it through them.

If you want to read up, this thread on MMO Champion has pretty much all you could need, info wise.

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/105 ... d.-READ-ME !

[Fridmarr]

I've stopped playing SWTOR and cancelled my account, it was a good game, but after the leveling experience (which was great) it just became another MMO end game.

GW2 might be more what I was looking for, and that is an MMO I can play once a blue moon and not feel like I've fallen behind. Though I could be totally wrong in that. I'm not at all familiar with the franchise. I didn't bother signing up for the beta, but I have a few friends that did, so I'll probably get a glance or two at it through them.

If you want to read up, this thread on MMO Champion has pretty much all you could need, info wise.

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/105 ... d.-READ-ME !

Thanks, one of my friends actually already had me read through that, which is what got me interested in the game. Still, it's one thing to talk up those mechanics at a high level, it's another to implement them in a way that is enjoyable for massively different rates of consumption of MMO players.

In other words, it sounds great, but the proof will be in the pudding. That said, I'm quite hopeful.

[Eltiana]

Thanks, one of my friends actually already had me read through that, which is what got me interested in the game. Still, it's one thing to talk up those mechanics at a high level, it's another to implement them in a way that is enjoyable for massively different rates of consumption of MMO players.

In other words, it sounds great, but the proof will be in the pudding. That said, I'm quite hopeful.

As am I. Game just needs to hurry the hell up and release lol. I think the fact the game has no sub fee really helps with not making you feel like you need to play to stop yourself from falling behind to address your earlier issue, not to mention the fact the game isn't based around gear treadmill.

[Fridmarr]

Yeah, I can certainly see the financial aspect of it too.

For my situation, it's more about being able to play with friends, while not asking them to run content that they otherwise wouldn't be running. With WoW and even SWTOR being able to play for even an hour each day is pretty rewarding. You have time to do a little grinding, get tokens, a heroic and maybe snatch up an item, and even some light raiding.

Unfortunately, my schedule just doesn't work that way, I can play one maybe two days a week, and I just don't know in advance when that will be. I can generally do 2-3 hours, it's just not on a set schedule or all that often. When I do login, my friends are typically busy doing their own thing. Sometimes I'm able to tag along like with daily quests, but often they are raiding. At the same time, some of the grindy things are tuned such that they can be done once a day, and as such require a few days of doing them to get meaningful rewards. Well for me, that can take weeks, and so progress is really slow, because 1 hour 3 days a week would be much more efficient than my 3 hours 1 day a week. Ultimately, it's just not worth my time, I'm not getting to hang out with friends much, and my progress is ridiculously slow.

GW2 sounds like it will be much more friendly for someone like me, with the random events constantly going on, the scaling, etc. So I'm hoping that even with my sporadic schedule, I'm able to join in on the events my friends are doing, and be able to contribute. At the same time, I realize that's a difficult thing to get right in a game, while also providing quality content for the vast numbers of people that play a ton more than I will.

[Eltiana]

Yeah, I can certainly see the financial aspect of it too.

For my situation, it's more about being able to play with friends, while not asking them to run content that they otherwise wouldn't be running. With WoW and even SWTOR being able to play for even an hour each day is pretty rewarding. You have time to do a little grinding, get tokens, a heroic and maybe snatch up an item, and even some light raiding.

Unfortunately, my schedule just doesn't work that way, I can play one maybe two days a week, and I just don't know in advance when that will be. I can generally do 2-3 hours, it's just not on a set schedule or all that often. When I do login, my friends are typically busy doing their own thing. Sometimes I'm able to tag along like with daily quests, but often they are raiding. At the same time, some of the grindy things are tuned such that they can be done once a day, and as such require a few days of doing them to get meaningful rewards. Well for me, that can take weeks, and so progress is really slow, because 1 hour 3 days a week would be much more efficient than my 3 hours 1 day a week. Ultimately, it's just not worth my time, I'm not getting to hang out with friends much, and my progress is ridiculously slow.

GW2 sounds like it will be much more friendly for someone like me, with the random events constantly going on, the scaling, etc. So I'm hoping that even with my sporadic schedule, I'm able to join in on the events my friends are doing, and be able to contribute. At the same time, I realize that's a difficult thing to get right in a game, while also providing quality content for the vast numbers of people that play a ton more than I will.

I understand where you're coming from. GW2 has a lot of lofty goals, will have to simply wait and see to find out how many of them they can meet . I do think this game is more aimed at you or me more so than the people who play non-stop, the fact there is no typical endgame gives it a more casual 'play when you feel like it' feeling more than a 'if I'm not playing, I'm falling behind' kind of feeling.

[ryan4nayr]

Very curious. I took for granted that there would be micro-transactions available, but this is an interesting implementation.

http://www.arena.net/blog/mike-obrien-o ... ild-wars-2

I'm sure I'll pay for micro-transactions of some sort. Bank access shared between my characters, improved personal bank access, maybe more inventory space. The sky-is-falling gamers will think immediately of the equivalent "Sword of A Thousand Truths", and I can't blame them. I guess we'll see for sure in a few months.

[Fridmarr]

Very curious. I took for granted that there would be micro-transactions available, but this is an interesting implementation.

http://www.arena.net/blog/mike-obrien-o ... ild-wars-2

I'm sure I'll pay for micro-transactions of some sort. Bank access shared between my characters, improved personal bank access, maybe more inventory space. The sky-is-falling gamers will think immediately of the equivalent "Sword of A Thousand Truths", and I can't blame them. I guess we'll see for sure in a few months.

When I was reading that EVE instantly popped into my mind, then of course he referenced EVE. I think EVE implements it pretty well, and it sounds like GW2 will follow that model to a degree.

However, I don't really buy...

You, the customer, get to decide how much money you spend on the game after launch, based on how compelling it is to you.

but it's a nice spin.

[Eltiana]

Cash shop items leaked:

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/forum/cas ... 32319.html

A couple of things I take issue with, but overall, nothing gamebreaking for me. This isn't 100% verified btw, but it looks legitimate.

[Era]

Yeah, same. A few annoyances, but nothing gamebreaking. Happy to see character slots on the menu already!