Post by Maxy on May 5, 2004 5:22:00 GMT -5
Many MMO fans here on RPG Town may be aware of the very intriguing new take on MMORPGs by Arena Net, [glow=yellow,2,300]Guild Wars.[/glow] I, for one, am following this game with great interest - at last we have a company that has seen the intrinsic problems of massive multiplayer games and has attempted to rectify them - what more can you expect from a company created by ex-Blizzard members, whom worked on timeless classics such as Diablo, Starcraft and Warcraft 2.
Their resumé speaks for itself, but how about the actual game? I first read about Guild Wars in a Gamespy article about 6 months ago highlighting MMO's which promised to be very big or at least have a hardcore cult following. One of the first things that caught my eye were the graphics. Admittedly, these have almost no bearing on such a game, but we all like a bit of eye candy, right?
Beautiful, huh? More can be found at www.guildwars.com/gallery/
Now that this game has caught your attention as well as mine, I'd like to point out a few key features I just KNOW you're going to love.
THE FEATURES
I think it would be best if I merely quote the best bits I've found:
"Guild Wars takes the best elements of today's massively multiplayer online games and combines them with a new mission-based design that eliminates the tedium of those games. You can meet new friends in towns or outposts, form a party, and then go tackle a quest together. Your party always has its own unique copy of the quest map, so camping, kill-stealing, and long lines to complete quests are all things of the past. Within a quest you have unprecedented freedom and power to manipulate the world around you: your magic can build bridges and open up new pathways, or it can burn down forests and tear the ground asunder.
"You don't have to spend countless hours on a leveling treadmill to get to the interesting parts of the game, because combat is designed to be strategically interesting and challenging right from the beginning. You don't have to spend hours running around the world to prepare for a quest, because Guild Wars allows you to instantly travel to the beginning of any quest that you've previously unlocked. You'll never spend days playing only to discover that choices you made early on have left you with a permanently uncompetitive character, because the unique skill system in Guild Wars allows infinite experimentation but doesn't allow bad decisions to ruin a character. And you'll never meet new players only to discover that you can't play with them or compete against them because their characters are on a different server than yours; in Guild Wars, all characters live in one seamless world."
"After learning the game and building up your first character, you may choose to test your skills in head-to-head competition or guild warfare. The game is designed to reward player skill and teamwork, not time spent playing, so you won't need to spend hundreds of hours leveling up your character to compete."
There's more material on their website, www.guildwars.com
THE DEMO
This is the important bit:
Between the 12th-14th of May there is an open demo of Guild Wars in its Alpha stages. Arena Net is coinciding this demo with E3, the biggest and best games expo on the calendar. For these 3 days we get to play this glorious game. All you have to do is get over to the site, download the client in preparation, the hold tight until the 12th of May. Personally, I can't wait.
Their resumé speaks for itself, but how about the actual game? I first read about Guild Wars in a Gamespy article about 6 months ago highlighting MMO's which promised to be very big or at least have a hardcore cult following. One of the first things that caught my eye were the graphics. Admittedly, these have almost no bearing on such a game, but we all like a bit of eye candy, right?
Beautiful, huh? More can be found at www.guildwars.com/gallery/
Now that this game has caught your attention as well as mine, I'd like to point out a few key features I just KNOW you're going to love.
THE FEATURES
- NO monthly subscription fee! That's right! You do not need a credit card to play, you just buy the box! "This is an MMORPG right?" - yes it is! Arena Net plan to make their money via a series of expansion packs, much like the sims, yet this isn't anything new from a MMORPG game. However, this glorious addition does mean immature types that usually ruin a community most likely will. Fingers crossed though, this game may go under the radar for the fan-boy crowd.
- "The fun bits of an MMORPG? Aren't they only for high levels?" You wish! Guild Wars is designed so that even newbies have an important role. Guild Wars is mission based, not creature-farming based, each time you take a mission you choose from your list of skills which ones you'll take with you, with a set maximum of (picking a number out of a hat since I don't actually know the exact number), 7! Any player that has 7 skills is just as powerful as one with 100 skills. Player vs Player, which plays a big role (although not mandatory), is possible as a newbie with only a few skills, so long as you use tactics. Of course, since the higher level character has a bigger pool of skills he's likely to be better, but one with 70 skills is still going to be as potent as the one with 100 skills. My understanding is that the skills don't actually become more powerful damagewise, but in the nature of their effect as you advance. A lot of this is speculation, of course, but I was paraphrasing Arena Net.
- From the FAQ: "We’ve eliminated frustrating elements such as spawn camping, kill stealing, endless traveling and treadmill gaming." Hot d**n!
I think it would be best if I merely quote the best bits I've found:
"Guild Wars takes the best elements of today's massively multiplayer online games and combines them with a new mission-based design that eliminates the tedium of those games. You can meet new friends in towns or outposts, form a party, and then go tackle a quest together. Your party always has its own unique copy of the quest map, so camping, kill-stealing, and long lines to complete quests are all things of the past. Within a quest you have unprecedented freedom and power to manipulate the world around you: your magic can build bridges and open up new pathways, or it can burn down forests and tear the ground asunder.
"You don't have to spend countless hours on a leveling treadmill to get to the interesting parts of the game, because combat is designed to be strategically interesting and challenging right from the beginning. You don't have to spend hours running around the world to prepare for a quest, because Guild Wars allows you to instantly travel to the beginning of any quest that you've previously unlocked. You'll never spend days playing only to discover that choices you made early on have left you with a permanently uncompetitive character, because the unique skill system in Guild Wars allows infinite experimentation but doesn't allow bad decisions to ruin a character. And you'll never meet new players only to discover that you can't play with them or compete against them because their characters are on a different server than yours; in Guild Wars, all characters live in one seamless world."
"After learning the game and building up your first character, you may choose to test your skills in head-to-head competition or guild warfare. The game is designed to reward player skill and teamwork, not time spent playing, so you won't need to spend hundreds of hours leveling up your character to compete."
There's more material on their website, www.guildwars.com
THE DEMO
This is the important bit:
Between the 12th-14th of May there is an open demo of Guild Wars in its Alpha stages. Arena Net is coinciding this demo with E3, the biggest and best games expo on the calendar. For these 3 days we get to play this glorious game. All you have to do is get over to the site, download the client in preparation, the hold tight until the 12th of May. Personally, I can't wait.