GW2Hub interview w/Colin Johanson

[Karizee]

Interesting look at crunch time & feedback.

http://www.guildwars2hub.com/feature...XlJ6Ng.twitter

[Deleted]

Read it. Thanks for the link.

[Malthurius]

It is a good read, quite enjoyed the insight.

[Mif]

Part 2:
http://www.guildwars2hub.com/feature...anson-part-two

[Malthurius]

Part 2:
http://www.guildwars2hub.com/feature...anson-part-two

Fantastic interview, makes me feel very good about the game and where it's going. There is nothing that Colin said that I don't agree on.

[Karizee]

"Once we get to the beta weekend, it’s much more relaxed, as we all get an opportunity to just spend three days playing the game with everyone, which reinvigorates everyone, allowing them to get ready for the next beta event and make the game even better."

I saw a couple Anet people during the last BWE, the first I didn't know that's who he/she was - they went running by off in the distance with a crowd of people following and I was wondering what was going on and what's with the icon on their tag.

I ran into another later in the weekend, we goofed around for a few minutes and then he ran off - I started following him and he led me into the BAT CAVE OF DEATH! rofl

[Razael]

I liked his last answer about innovating the genre, it was very insightful and spot on imo, we need more people in this videogame industry thinking like that.

[DrakeWurrum]

Yeah, just now read that part, as I tend to take my time reading this interviews in little snippets. It's truly the BEST part of the entire interview... Colin's message to his fellow game developers:

All that being said, I’d love to say to other developers that part of what is going to make Guild Wars 2 a success is not repeating what has been successful for other MMOs, but instead asking how can we do what other MMOs have done differently, or better. This is an industry where making a game is insanely expensive; there is no game harder to make than an MMO, period. Usually you’re betting your company on the game because the development costs are so high, which is part of the reason why I think you see so little innovation in the genre—the risk is just incredible, so it’s much easier to play it safe. The problem with playing it safe is that you’ll never make the next great game; at best you’ll make a good, solid game that is fun but nothing spectacular. To do the spectacular, to change a genre, it requires taking risks and doing something new, it requires pushing the limits and asking fundamental questions about why we do things as a genre. We’ve tried to do this in Guild Wars 2, and we’re going to continue to ask those questions going into the future after Guild Wars 2’s release. We hope other folks out there can learn lessons from some of the decisions we made in our game, but I’d encourage them to try to find ways to make games that are different and take the genre in exciting new directions if they truly want to help push the genre forward.

[Herecius]

I liked his last answer about innovating the genre, it was very insightful and spot on imo, we need more people in this videogame industry thinking like that.

Agreed. He (and therefor, ANet) absolutely jives with EXACTLY what my feelings are about the future of the MMO genre. Thank goodness ANet has the financial power and the willingness to be able to take risks, I just wish publishers working with other MMO developers were as willing.