Guild Wars 2: Personality System

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Korten12

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From Massively: http://www.massively.com/2010/08/03/personality-in-guild-wars-2-npcs-will-give-you-pie/

[HEADING=1]Article Below[/HEADING]

Do you like pie? Do you want game NPCs to give you free pie? How about a free jar of bees? (Don't look so surprised, it's an excellent weapon.) It may sound funny, but free goodies from NPCs are all part of the personality system in Guild Wars 2.

Way back in May, ArenaNet's Ree Soesbee gave us an exciting overview of how your personal story will work in Guild Wars 2. The whole point of personal story, and dynamic events for that matter, is to make you feel that you're truly in the world and making an impact.

However, it's a bit immersion-breaking if you've been tearing around building a reputation as a centaur-slaying hero, and then you enter town to be greeted by blank stares and static dialogue from every NPC. ArenaNet thought of this too. Follow along after the jump to see how the developers have addressed this issue in the latest blog entry: Personality in Guild Wars 2.

What's interesting about this newest blog entry is how so much of what we've learned before comes together. We've heard about karma, we've heard about personal story, and we've heard about the biography at character creation. These elements make for potentially great gameplay in their own right, but together they add up to lay the foundation for your character to have a truly unique personality that affects everything about the world around her.

Game Designer Curtis Johnson penned this entry, and he paints a picture of RP heaven: "In Guild Wars 2, we're going even further to make the out-of-combat experience a role playing experience by introducing "personality" as a player character role. How you respond to other characters develops and changes your personality over time, letting you affect how the game treats you. Personality is your character's attitude toward others; it grows and changes as you play through your personal story and as you adventure in the persistent world."

As you develop your personality, you'll unlock titles and earn rewards, but the reactions of those around you are the truly interesting part. If you've got a scary tough-guy reputation, merchants will cower at your approach, hoping to avoid your notice. Their reactions as you pass by, even without direct interaction, will be a direct reflection of the personality you've cultivated.

What if you decide to change after a while? If you're sick of being sweet and polite to everyone, that's okay. Part of the dynamic nature of the game means that you're never stuck with a choice like that. You can begin giving your reputation a makeover at any time, and teach those around you a thing or two about the new you.

Of course, this isn't for everyone. If you've been reading through this groaning and thinking that there's no way you want to be forced into a roleplay situation, never fear: "But what if you don't want to read flowery language and pick from a lot of dialog? What if you just want to simply kill everything and hand in some heads for a reward? No problem! We understand that not everyone wants to hone their interpersonal skills with NPC banter, but we recognize they don't want to miss out on all the benefits either. Well, have no fear because the most rewarding NPCs will, as an alternative, also sell their services for some gold if you haven't developed your personality or earned enough karma. And if you truly don't want to be bothered reading at all, we make clear the shortest path through a conversation so you can get back to the fighting."

As always, it looks like ArenaNet has added a little something to appeal to everyone, while making the overall experience something more immersive than what we've seen before. Check out the ArenaNet blog for the full story. http://www.arena.net/blog/personality-in-guild-wars-2

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omg this makes GW2 even more amazing! :)
 

delet

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Korten12 said:
sad it doesnt seem many are intrested in this.
Bumping is bad, ya know...

That said, this seems quite interesting. All the news I hear about GW2 keeps making me want to play it a little more. Hopefully it'll keep me playing past the story they throw in it.
 

Korten12

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Aby_Z said:
Korten12 said:
sad it doesnt seem many are intrested in this.
Bumping is bad, ya know...

That said, this seems quite interesting. All the news I hear about GW2 keeps making me want to play it a little more. Hopefully it'll keep me playing past the story they throw in it.
isn't bumping when someone posts twice in a row and the second post is a bump? clarify please if you will. :p
 

delet

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Korten12 said:
Aby_Z said:
Korten12 said:
sad it doesnt seem many are intrested in this.
Bumping is bad, ya know...

That said, this seems quite interesting. All the news I hear about GW2 keeps making me want to play it a little more. Hopefully it'll keep me playing past the story they throw in it.
isn't bumping when someone posts twice in a row and the second post is a bump? clarify please if you will. :p
Bumping is making a post in the thread for the sole purpose of bringing it back to the top of the list. Your comment simply boils down to a bump.

In a way, I'm glad you did that because I wouldn't have read this otherwise, but the point still stands.
 

Korten12

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DJmagma said:
does anyone play guild wars? it's just a browser game on the escapist not that big of a deal. or is that genre wars? i don't remember.
Guild Wars isnt the browser games. lol. thats Genre wars you are thinking of.

Aby_Z said:
Korten12 said:
Aby_Z said:
Korten12 said:
sad it doesnt seem many are intrested in this.
Bumping is bad, ya know...

That said, this seems quite interesting. All the news I hear about GW2 keeps making me want to play it a little more. Hopefully it'll keep me playing past the story they throw in it.
isn't bumping when someone posts twice in a row and the second post is a bump? clarify please if you will. :p
Bumping is making a post in the thread for the sole purpose of bringing it back to the top of the list. Your comment simply boils down to a bump.

In a way, I'm glad you did that because I wouldn't have read this otherwise, but the point still stands.
well atleast it had one benefit. lol.
 

delet

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DJmagma said:
does anyone play guild wars? it's just a browser game on the escapist not that big of a deal. or is that genre wars? i don't remember.
You're thinking of Genre Wars. Guild Wars is an MMO that's been starting to get some hype for the next game, which seems to be promising to be fairly nice.
 

The Austin

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.... Why would a centaur slaying hero want a pie?

Seriously, what good would a pie do in a video game? Does it restore your health? Your magic?

Is the game giving you a pie, JUST to give you a pie?
 

Korten12

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Aug 26, 2009
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The Austin said:
.... Why would a centaur slaying hero want a pie?

Seriously, what good would a pie do in a video game? Does it restore your health? Your magic?

Is the game giving you a pie, JUST to give you a pie?
I hate pie but other ppl like pie. XD
 
Jun 8, 2010
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i play (or rather playd since the comunity is filld with dick heads nowdays) the 1st one witch i love and realy wanta get the new one wen it comes out looks realy fucking cool also its great that you dont have to pay monthly
 

AugustFall

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If they just released updates of the stuff they are going to do forever it would be enough. I loved GW and GW2 looks freaking incredible.
 

The Austin

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Korten12 said:
The Austin said:
.... Why would a centaur slaying hero want a pie?

Seriously, what good would a pie do in a video game? Does it restore your health? Your magic?

Is the game giving you a pie, JUST to give you a pie?
I hate pie but other ppl like pie. XD
Ummmm... Thanks for contributing nothing the my question.

What's the point of NPCs giving you pies in the game? Is that what the personality system is limited to, what kind of pastries NPCs give to you?

That's not a personality system, it's a food recognition system.
 

Mr. Grey

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Aug 31, 2009
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It's going to be free to play and things are still going according to that plan.

It's definitely on my list of things to buy... although, I am worried about what they're talking about. Not that I don't want it, it just comes off as a Peter Molyneux Moment. So while I'm psyched about it, I will be wary all the same.

The Austin said:
.... Why would a centaur slaying hero want a pie?

Seriously, what good would a pie do in a video game? Does it restore your health? Your magic?

Is the game giving you a pie, JUST to give you a pie?
I thought pies made the perfect bait for centaurs... are you saying that's why I haven't caught any yet?

If you wanted a serious answer: I'll assume it gives you a bonus for a short time such as increased health regeneration.
 

Theron Julius

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The Austin said:
.... Why would a centaur slaying hero want a pie?

Seriously, what good would a pie do in a video game? Does it restore your health? Your magic?

Is the game giving you a pie, JUST to give you a pie?
That's a pointless question. Why would he not want pie? It's pie!!!
 
Jun 16, 2010
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Man, this was totally my idea.

It's the best system, I think, for actually including an engaging story in an MMO. GW1 came close, but it was really just a series of cutscenes with plot exposition. What really makes a good story is good characters. But in MMOs, the characters are always just hollow avatars that represent the dickhead players controlling them.

I always thought a system where your character's actions affect their personality, which affects the objectives of your missions (and even result in certain mid-mission events, like two characters having an argument or a fight or rushing off and getting captured, etc.) would fix the problem of MMORPGs always being flat and repetitive.

So even if you're replaying a quest, it might go completely differently because last time the team was full of compassionate characters who wanted to help the old man, and this time your team is full of asshole characters who mug him instead.