Hagi said:
I definitely agree. Didn't mean to imply that GW2 won't offer any challenge. But I don't believe it will offer the type of challenge raiders seek.
Raiding is very much a game of learning mechanics, figuring out optimal rotations and practice. It's much more about skill in statistics than it is about skill in twitch.
Combat in GW2 seems to go against all of that, at least when going by the advertisements. Focussing much more on twitch skill and much less on needing to know all the numbers.
The type of player who enjoys the raiding game doesn't seem to be the type who'll enjoy GW2's combat. Or if he does it's not because he/she likes raiding but rather because of other preferences.
As for the world bosses, having random players able to join in without any troubles goes against the organised nature of raiding as well. From many perspectives that's a great thing. From some other perspectives not so much.
GW2 seems to have a very different type of end-game. Which altogether is a great thing, some more diversity is definitely needed in the MMO world. But it won't be for everyone. If you just want hardcore raiding then this won't be the game for you. Likewise, if you just want a sandbox (the MMO type) world then this probably isn't the game for you either.
It is true that GW2's challenge lies more on the "twitchy" side than on the "knowing all the numbers" side. But it's not entirely twitch, either; a lot of it also comes from knowing both your enemy and your allies, and what abilities everyone has. There's a hell of a lot of teamwork involved in the dungeons. (Not so much with the world bosses, I agree, but there is still some there.)
I think some hardcore raiders will be won over. Probably not most of them, because you can't spreadsheet your way to victory and because once they've completed all 8/24/32 dungeons (the number depends on your definition), there isn't much reason to do them again. But because GW2 is buy-to-play, they could just buy the expansions when they come out, do those dungeons, and then quit playing again.
ArenaNet is fine with that playstyle, basically treating it as another $60 addition to your collection of games that you pick up and play whenever you feel like it, rather than an MMO that you need to play like a second job. (Which is a relief to me, since my time as a hardcore MMO player is coming to an end.)
