GW2: What it does different - in a nutshell

[Maarius]

First of all, there is this very informative thread here from omlech, a mass info thread that should answer most of your questions... check it out!

For some of you that might be a bit much to read, so here's a nice article from a fansite which compares GW2 to Aion:

Guild Wars 2 does it different



1.) Quests

The original GW already had such ‘dynamic events’ which were triggered when the player came within a specific distance from the NPC that offered them. Rift has them as well, in a bigger scale too, since its world is not instanced as GW’s. However, Guild Wars 2 has them in such an extent and degree that has never existed in a game before. The first reviews and impressions indicate that it’s done quite a good job with them too!

The reason behind this misbehavior is that Guild Wars 2 does not have a Quest Log! I know, this sounds utterly dumb and incredible. Truth is... it does not need one. Let me explain. ...

2.) Repeatable quests & Activities

... Guild Wars 2 does not break away from this rule: it (will) include ‘repeatable quests’, however neither their purpose nor their essence is going to be about grind. In the contrary, their rewards will be either titles, or skins, or dyes, or other kinds of cosmetic ones – things which do not make one player better than another by improving their stats or gear. ...

... Repeatable quests do exist in GW2, true, but the game does not ‘force’ you to do them. Having the ability to choose is the defining factor here. ...

3.) Dungeons & Loot

... Dungeons in Guild Wars 2 are like everything else in the game: fun. This involves and implies the factor ‘rewarding’. If you take the trouble and spend your time, you shall be rewarded for it. All the party members will get something for their effort – and not something useless but an item fitting to their class and character. Every time. Invariably. Do not forget the rule we mentioned above though: rewards are of aesthetic nature, proofs & trophies to show to all that you are the masters of this dungeon. ...

4.) Holy Trinity

... However, as soon as we learn to play as members of a group, reacting to each situation in a way that complements and enhances the action of our comrades… As soon as each one of us learns to play right their triple role… As soon as we realize that GW2 is a new and different MMO than those we’re used to playing, we will love it as we’ve loved the original one. ...

5.) Traits System & Money Sinks

6.) Death Penalty vs. Armor Durability

... each time you get killed, a piece of your armor gets damaged. When every piece of your armor is damaged, your next death is going to break a random one of them and you’ll have to travel back to town in order to get it repaired… by paying a small sum of gold...

7.) Mentoring vs. Side-kick

... The difference of Guild Wars 2 on this part is that, as the side-kick system not just allows but also exhorts the players to return to low level areas (by doing the same quests with our low level friends and rewarding grouping with them), the available content is basically growing larger day after day: new content is added every 5 levels approximately while all the previous one remains available and contributory! This is pure magic...

8.) WvWvW vs. Siege

... about sPvP: All participating players are ‘automatically’ raised to level 80 (cap) and equipped with PvP gear. What does “automatically” mean? That as soon as we travel to the Mists – imagine them as the preparation grounds before entering some PvP game – we become leveled to 80: all our skills and traits are unlocked and in our disposal to create the build we feel most satisfied with. There is no cost to re-spec, so experimentation is greatly encouraged leading eventually to deciding which build(s) best suit us, so we can plan our PvE development accordingly. Additionally, special NPCs offer all the required equipment to us, FOR FREE, so we can dress up with the gear of our liking: armor, weapons, enchantments (runes, etc), anything we can imagine and desire is within our grasp. For free!

9.) Queues vs. Server Overflow mechanic

One of ArenaNet's innovations, which caused quite a wave of enthused reactions when it was announced, was the overflow servers. What is that exactly? It is the company's answer to the problem of waiting queues. Or, in any case, it aspires to be. When some player tries to connect to the game and the server of choice is full at that point, the game asks them if they wish to be placed to one of the overflow servers until a spot is available on the server proper. For as long the player resides in that 'parallel universe', they have access to the exact same PvE content they'd have in their own world, progress the same - in their quests as well as in their personal story, or in anything else they decide to play through.

From what we've seen so far (after 2 BWEs) from this system, some initial conclusions have been drawn. First of all, it works! Instead of sitting there in front of your monitor, idle and irritated, counting down from ten thousand something, you get in the game right away and play properly.

I cut out the "almost properly" he mentions after that quote, because grouping with friends worked well in BWE2.

10.) Alternate reality vs. Game World – the ‘Extended Experience’

11.) End Content & Epilogue

Why not run one of the "smaller" dungeons, such as the Ascalonian Catacombs? Excuse me, what was that? They're not for my level? Well, if you did say that (did you, really?) you need to read again about the sidekick system of GW2. And, thus, keep in mind that even in lower level instances and areas I will still enjoy the challenge and the loot that match my level.

for the ones of you who need more information, check out Anets blogposts and the GW2 homepage. Furthermore there are some very old threads from myself too.

Maarius Infothreads

Dynamic Events Overview

Personal Story Overview

Dungeons
Eric Flannum Answers More of Your Dynamic Event Questions


Colin Johanson Answers Your Dynamic Event Questions

[Squirrelbanes]

I hope many take the time to read these and find them interesting and useful.
I've always enjoyed ur posts

[Deleted]

Awesome Maarius, good job!

p.s. Could it be put up as a stickie, please?

[Mif]

Guild Wars 2 does it different

Looks like this to me.

[Malthurius]

Looks like this to me.

Same here. I wonder what it is... I've already read all the links before, I'm so curious lol.

[Squirrelbanes]

Looks like this to me.

Me too. I'm just so used to things not working for my internet I ignored it

[Maarius]

fixed it, imgur is my new best friend

[draykorinee]

i think you misused the term nutshell, it generally refers to a shortened overview of things this would take me ages to read :s i have started the main link but its such a huge wall of text, and the bias is a little vomit inducing but so far its an enjoyable read.

[Maarius]

i think you misused the term nutshell, it generally refers to a shortened overview of things this would take me ages to read :s

thanks for the constructive criticism, I'll have a look at it.

[DrakeWurrum]

I especially liked the dungeon section. The part that rings true for me: the part where it says, after spending hours upon hours in an instance, for dozens or even hundreds of runs, to finally get the set of gear you really really really wanted from there...
You refuse to ever set foot in there again, due to the extreme amount of boredom caused by repetition, and memory of the constant disappointment of not getting what you want.

I also really like the part in the Holy Trinity section, where he waxes poetic about his favorite class in Aion. His experience as a Chanter, and exactly why he loves it, mirrors my own experiences as an Enhancement Shaman in WoW.

---------- Post added 2012-07-07 at 01:36 PM ----------

One of the articles it links to says this:

Many players will just not be able to handle the loss of the Trinity. These will be players who cannot fathom a boss fight without a tank, a tank without a healer and a boss dying without dedicated DPS. Very soon after release you will see these players on GW2 and MMO forums complaining about the lack of the Trinity. Only they will mask what they are truly angry about and instead call the game ‘EZ Mode’. They will lament the loss of the Trinity and rage against the lack of raids. Forums will be rife with these people as they take out their anger on the game and the community.

And damn if we aren't already seeing this behavior.

[Maarius]

reworked the OP to bring in the nutshell-factor, a few quotes from the article. I'd suggest to read the whole article though.

[CrunkJuice5]

They will lament the loss of the Trinity and rage against the lack of raids. Forums will be rife with these people as they take out their anger on the game and the community.

meh,good riddance to the people complaining about lack of raids.there probably the same bunch who tried to get swtor to be world of starwarscraft

[Malthurius]

meh,good riddance to the people complaining about lack of raids.there probably the same bunch who tried to get swtor to be world of starwarscraft

Off-Topic, but wasn't SWTOR like WoW in the first place? Players that complained about raids in SWTOR had all the right to because it's how the game was designed; bi-model, you level then you start the end-game progression.

I know you probably didn't mean it, but I can't help but read sarcasm into your post...that bi-model system isn't part of GW2's fundamental design and it never was even in GW1, there is no place to ask for them.

[Lillpapps]

So much bias that I had to stop reading. Im already sold on the game so I was just reading to see if you had brought up any good points.

[Maarius]

So much bias that I had to stop reading. Im already sold on the game so I was just reading to see if you had brought up any good points.

It would help everyone if you would point out those wrong points, not just say "this is bad because I say so". Furthermore those points weren't brought up by me, I just posted an article Anet put on their twitter-board. Putting things right would be a good thing.

[DrakeWurrum]

So much bias that I had to stop reading. Im already sold on the game so I was just reading to see if you had brought up any good points.

Have no idea what you're talking about.

[Maarius]

I find this one quite interesting:

Apparently, ArenaNet's designers thought about the whole quest monitoring process from the opposite direction. Traditionally, the way every game goes about it is the following:

1. player browses through their Quest Log and identifies which quests take place in or around the same location on the Map
2. player 'ticks' those quests so they get pinned on his top-right screen corner
3. these quests appear on the Map as well, creating a shaded area with mouse-over tooltips and what-not
4. player visits said area and starts questing

ArenaNet's approach now is something like this:

4. player visits said area
3. quests appear on the Map with mouse-over tooltips and what-not
2. quests get pinned on his top-right screen corner
1. -

It's fast, effortless, effective, brain-dead simple, work of a genius. You go wherever you want and you start questing. No questions asked, no instructions needed. If you're here then you do not need to bother yourself with something which may -or may not- be happening somewhere else.