Guild Wars 2: I am preparing for disappoint

[The_Vigilant]

I'm scared. I'm scared because I'm pretty sure all of Guild Wars' competitive magic will die in its successor. You don't compete with Wal-Mart, McDonald's, or World of Warcraft. You find the niche of consumers unsatisfied by the juggernauts and be their little whore. Guild Wars was always more interesting than WoW to me because of its emphasis on tactical PvP.

Guild Wars was never about one character proccing a big critical or sweeping a game. It's not about remarking that "asuran necromancers sure hit harder than humans." It's more like chess. The limits are easily identfiable and everybody is given the same tools to work with. You win with superior coordination and creative implementation.

I feel like GW2 is well on its way to missing the point. PvP appears to blend WoW battlegrounds with League of Legends mechanics, and will eradicate all possibility of creativity in the form of builds like IWAY, touch rangers, bunny thumpers, and fast casting elementalists. While this may be a welcome change to some (and trust me, I was always an "honor balance" type of person myself), it feels like trading genuine innovation for mediocrity - my summarizing prediction for the sequel.

Somebody make me feel better and prove me wrong.

 

[Rad Party God]

Well, just because they're not giving away much info about PVP doesn't mean they're not balancing it a lot more than with the first GW. Also they already said that there will be less skills than before, but that's not because of bad design or blatant laziness, that's because they're optimizing the skills as much as they can and not releasing a thousand skills that not everyone will use.

Also, they're making PVP both casual (kill a player you see while questing) and arena/battleground based. There's still a lot of undefinied time left until the game comes out and a lot of unspoken revelation (about PVP) yet.

 

[Leoofmoon]

there always THIS guy

 

[Lyri]

Also they already said that there will be less skills than before, but that's not because of bad design or blatant laziness, that's because they're optimizing the skills as much as they can and not releasing a thousand skills that not everyone will use.

People like to complain about those sorts of things a lot. They don't actually realise the majority of their hot bars could be obliterated because they only use a small percentage of skills.
I for one think it's a fine change for any game to take.

 

[StormShaun]

I dont know to get it or not, adding engineer that have guns and turrets kinda...well suck, but if they fix this problem I dont know if I should be human or nord.

 

[2xDouble]

You're focused pretty hard on the new flavor, WvWvW [http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/World_PvP]. Why not take a closer look at Structured PvP [http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Structured_PvP]?

Structured PvP is the traditional tournament-style gameplay, featuring teams of 5 (or more, depending on the game type). Within Structured PvP are two modes: tournament and pick-up. Tournament is the evolution of Guild Wars' classic GvG and Team Arena matchups, where teams organize and adjust their builds and payloads to complement each other. Pick-up is a hot-joinable evolution of the Random Arenas. This takes a few cues from shooter game lobbies as well, letting players choose the game type and map they want to play, then jump into the game.

Guild Wars was never about one character proccing a big critical or sweeping a game. It's not about remarking that "asuran necromancers sure hit harder than humans." It's more like chess. The limits are easily identifiable and everybody is given the same tools to work with. You win with superior coordination and creative implementation.

That's exactly what Guild Wars 2 is all about. Combat in Guild Wars 2 is about actively adapting to the situation, and true flexibility of tactics. In this regard, GW2 far surpasses its predecessor. It is true that GW2 places some limits on skill selection, but in context those limits make sense. Without a skill to heal yourself, YOU WILL DIE. Without a skill that controls your or your enemy's position, YOU WILL DIE. If you cannot follow the flow of combat from aggressive damage to team support and everything in between, YOU WILL DIE. Listen to people who've played the game [http://guildcast.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/episode-48/]. (Warning, listening to Guildcast may cause massive excitement, which can lead to fanboyism. Do not operate Guildcast under heavy time constraints. heh)

Think about it this way: The unrestricted freedom in Guild Wars 1's skill system is like trying to build a puzzle with pieces from many different puzzles. Sure, you could find a few new and interesting combinations of pieces, but most of them aren't going to fit together, and some are going to be completely useless. For every IWAY, or Bunny Thumper, or EleMENTAList, there are hundreds of PetMonks, Whammos, Flare-spitters, Smiter's Boons... the list goes on. Guild Wars 2's system takes those pieces, removes the useless bits, and shapes them so that they all fit together, like Legos or Minecraft blocks. You have fewer pieces in total, but you have more viable options... more than that, you have only viable options. Even better, Guild Wars 2's Trait [http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Traits] system allows you not only to fit the pieces together, but color them so they make a prettier whole.

That's just the skills themselves, not the new mechanics. Weapon Sets let you not only change out half your skill bar but change your entire style with the touch of a button. Elite skills, by their nature, change the course of a battle. Your choices in Heal and Utility skills can change how the entire build works and fits together, and how you play with your team. Elementalists and Engineers have ways to use even more weapons and variety, through Attunements and Kits. Environmental Weapons let you pick up giant clubs, or operate mortars, or guzzle a jug of ale to heal yourself, or throw feathers to stun an enemy... every one adds new options to your tactics and play styles.

In short, Guild Wars 2 really must be experienced to be fully understood.

 

[krek]

Somebody make me feel better and prove me wrong.

Arenanet built GW and PvP was awesome and Arenanet is building GW2, what is it about this combination that makes you nervous?