You ever had this feeling of real calm? Like you have been dealt very good cards?
I had the same feeling over 8 years ago when WoW's alpha was running. Many of you may not remember or simply weren't "there", but WoW was taking a lot of heat from haters. It was suppose to fail within months.
Blizzard did not invent MMO games as many think. There were other games back then, but the one with biggest number of subscribers was Everquest. Although MMO market was many times smaller, the proportions were similar - EQ ruled. So when Blizz decided to convert one of its franchise to new genre there were doubts everywhere. Although Blizz did took many "working things" from other titles, there was loads of innovations that made many people cringe.
I remember how first official WoW forum looked like, it was filled with topics like "x thing will not work" or "EQ have done this and that better" where handful of fans tried to explain why this game is not destined to fail. I remember really long topics about questing, progression and balance. Endless arguing and collision of New(WoW) vs Old(EQ). Despite that I felt everything is ok, cause back then team that worked on WoW displayed tenacity and conviction. I knew that this game was going to rock.
So, here we are, 2012. Looking at Guild Wars 2, I get the same feeling. No amount of "GW2 must have X or Y" topics will shake it. Anet have uncompromising approach to their game. They are not afraid to go back to something that doesn't fit and redo it completely (sylvari, asura, class revamps etc). I get the same vibe as it was with blizz so long time ago, they are set to prove that there is still room for innovation. Believe it or not but before WoW it was common opinion that you can't get much more creative with MMOs any more, upgrading the graphics was the only way to improve. Now, most people also think that MMO game needs X, Y and Z to succeed or otherwise it's doomed to fail - and again, things will change.
So just like 8 years ago, I just sit back and relax waiting for GW2 release day, cause I know this game is going to rock and change how people define MMO games.
Anyone with similar impression?