Note to everyone who's scared with changes, there there.. you can still play with panda's!
I play WoW myself and highly will when GW2 comes out, I've seen enough comparing and doubting about GW2 because it's not what they are used to. I'm not bashing anything, I'm just saying that what people are used to is still here, they aren't forced to play GW2 if they don't like it.
See, this is the problem I have with GW2 and the GW2 fanboys that come around. Everything that is said about it seems like hype. I'm not saying if it is or isn't, but it has the -feel- of hype around it. 'We are completely revolutionizing the way gameplay works'. Fine, but removing 2 of the roles that people have played for the last 15-20 years is going to require extrodinarily compelling gameplay and from what I have seen, they have only released things that look like once in a blue moon world bosses.
Some of the videos that are around that show day-to-day gameplay look interesting, but the huge hype that abounds (especially when someone tries to say anything not amazingly positive about the game and gets branded a wow fanboy) pretty much excludes me from being able to find anything remotely credible on which to judge the game.
I understand your message. Absolutely, and I think I can answer some stuff for you.
Dynamic Events can come in many forms.
Some can show up multiple times a day
Some only once or couple of times.
Some once in a couple of days.
Some only once a week.
Some will come once a few weeks.
And some will come once a month.
There is NO real timer for an event, when it happens, it happens, and people need to be there. Some Dynamic Events are being triggered by others, or the gameplay of the players.. if people are killing local Dredges, a luitenant of the Dredges can hear about it and can be pissed off. He will counter attack by killing villages or killing farmlife. (for instance)
About hyping, yes absolutely yes. But I don't find it disturbing. Many people have been waiting for about 4 years now! And since 1,5year we'd be getting new information about the game. Professions, Blogs, Attacks, Video's, Demo's etc. They had been real quiet with everything. They created an atmosphere that said;"We are working on something cool, and you can't know about it..... YET"! Surprises can make people nuts about something, and it's their way to get people hyped about the game. Let's be fair, I've met Colin Johansson on Gamescom 2011, and this guy is seriously insane excited about this game, not just because it's good (I've played it, trust me, it is.) But the way people are drooling on this game as well. They want to release it, they want give more, and they want to show more. But in time, and in time only.
There are plenty of people who find healing fun. And there are always people who play Medic in games like Team Fortress 2 and Alien Swarm, so there are people that find healing fun. According to Arenanet this is actually because they enjoy supporting their allies, which is why they went with Support, instead of healing.
I don't think the game needs "extraordinarily compelling gameplay". To use the Team Fortress 2 example again, that's a game with no clear roles (with the Medic as exception) that follow rather standard FPS gameplay. If the gameplay is solid, people will play it.
Resurrected Holy Priest
The rest of your post has been taken up. But that. To what I know EQ was the first game where tanks as well, tanks started to show up. That's 12 years ago. Before that some people could do damage, some could heal, and some could just take a beating a bit better. Most korean games launched between 00 and 05 had zero "real" tanks. Just some plate wearers with a bit better migitation. Tanks didn't really become central in almost any MMO you see until WoW became big.
So no, the trinity hasn't been central in MMO gaming for 15-20 years.
If you look out of MMO gaming, it has never existed aside from in DA:O. They are only really innovating how modern MMO games work. Still, much needed innovation.
(If you look at UI anyone could heal, DPS, and Tank basicly at the same time if they played a lot).
i for one always rolled a healing class provided there was at least one available and stuck to it as long as didn't feel like having a gimped class.
one reason amongst others was also because it was pretty obvious only a portion of people were playing healers (ie healers are always highly desired), and many weren't as good as we wish they were.
and being the healer in a group is after all the best way to avoid having to depend on a worse player than yourself at this key spot. (but well, if you're just bad at it, just drop it eh )
Look at the FPS genre and now imagine every FPS out right now still played like they did in the mid 90s, like Doom/Quake. That's where the majority of the MMO genre is right now, stuck on 2 axis and afraid to allow full 3d movement because no one wants to take the chance of making a mistake. The Trinity is very much like that, obviously MMOs have become a hell of a lot easier to control as the genre has evolved, but it's still very much stuck in the 90s mechanically. MMOs have become one of the most stagnant genres I can think of, thankfully ArenaNet isn't afraid to innovate and move us out of this rut. To be frank, for those of us who have been playing MMOs for nearly or over a decade, the Trinity is old, tired, and broken. We're looking for a change and that change is GW2.
Thanks, I'm no stranger to the GW2 community at large. I post at r/guildwars2 over at reddit and made
neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=440171
that thread over on NeoGaf. I made a post in the progression thread, but apparently it needs to be read by a mod and I'm wondering if it's due to the length of it?
Let me remind everyone that GW1 also didn't had the Holy Trinity, there weren't any tanks and there weren't any healers. There were classes who could defend and protect the group better, and there were who could heal others and protect. The "trinity" was put into this. Groups could be fine without tanks, but they always required healing. I think GW1 had a small basic idea that GW2 went developing in.
I understand your misgivings...in some ways though it seems that the question is bigger than just this game - my own feeling (and the feelings of lots of other players) is that it's time for a change...time for the trinity to be replaced by fresh ideas...time for evolution.
You're right, of course, that we haven't played the game...but, even if the game doesn't deliver - it's the concepts that people find so exciting, if this game doesn't...some other one will take up the challenge.
As it happens, at this moment...GW2 *does* seem to be very on track for being the game that starts the revolution.
I think you'll find that there aren't enough players with the skill to manage all of the resources of tank/dps/self-healing. I look at it like this: Blizzard has "dumbed down WoW" according to an overwhelming number of posts on these forums. The reason being, the majority of players want a game to be easier, and the hardcore players are in the minority. I think if GW2 requires players to have to play a style that is more "hardcore" then it won't keep a large population base.
I do wonder about this...but the more I think about it, the more I wonder how many MMO players also play FPS games.
I'm not an FPS expert...but in the ones I've played the player has had to select the correct gun for the situation...keep an eye on their health and armour...react to the combat as it evolves...and finally, stay mobile...if you're in a team, a comrade may throw you a health-pack...but ultimately, your survival and choices are all your responsibility.
I wonder how many of those skills are directly transferable.