Guild Wars 2

Unlike most of my friends, I watched Guild Wars 2 from afar. Every once in a while I'd drop by the website and read a bit, but most of the development I wanted to keep a surprise. I knew almost nothing about playing the game, with the exception of some minor details like the dye system (which, astonishingly, does not easily lead to fashion disasters; you have to really work for those). I had read a bit about the sidekick system, events, the aggressive removal of the Tank-Healer-Damage party structure, and seen some combat skill overviews; but deliberately avoided thinking about them until I could play the game. I rather enjoyed the result, though it meant that many implications only set in with about 3 hours left in the beta event.

The only part about that that I regret is failing to notice how badly the default movement key-binds were hampering me, because movement is just that important.

Events

Marked by a heart icon on the map, events run periodically or get triggered by a player's action. Any player can join them simply by entering the area and participating. Without talking to any NPC, the goal will be listed on the screen, and you can get to it.

The best area event I encountered (after the tutorial boss, which I didn't even notice was an area event), was in Queensdale. It took place in an apple orchard, plagued by bats and large spiders. Aside from killing spiders and bats, and smashing spider eggs, you could also collect apples for the apple pies the NPC was going to make. Area events don't have explicit rewards, instead giving experience and Karma, which is used as a currency with area event NPCs after completing the event.

This particular event stuck in my mind because I tried to imagine what it would be like in World of Warcraft. It came out something like this: Kill 10 orchard spiders (kill quest); Kill 10 orchard bats (kill quest); Squish 10 orchard spider eggs (perform action quest); collect 10 shiny apples (collection quest). After all that would be an elite quest to kill a giant orchard spider, which would require a party to complete. You would get some trinket after those quests, a single apple pie after the collection quest, and perhaps a decent spider-themed weapon after the elite quest. I realize WoW has worked to fix this, but last time I checked they were limited to late-game zones or one-time special events, and were rather inflexible.

The Karma is pretty sweet, since you don't have to use it with the NPC you got it from. Got your eye on an item some other event NPC is giving out? Take your karma over there and get it, instead.

Sidekick System

I only got a single character (human elementalist) to level 12, since I spent most of my time hunting skill point challenges with my friends. There are some noticeable bugs with this system, and it definitely needs some tuning. The key idea to keep in mind is that it can be applied to both players and enemies (though with different triggers).


The obvious effect is that a high-level character will have stats downgraded to the current zone. In the starting areas, I found this to frequently be levels 3 to 5. Mostly, you notice most of your hit points evaporate. As far as I could tell, your equipment bonuses, your weapon skills, utility skills, and character traits do not downgrade. A level (4) 25 character is more powerful than a level 4, but not overwhelmingly so. No matter where you go, the world will be challenging to you. It will also be rewarding. You still get experience and karma from low-level enemies and events. I didn't confirm this, but I have heard that a high-level character can receive appropriately leveled equipment from those events, as well.


The other application occurs in the events. If an event is flooded with players, all the enemies get level boosts so that the event is challenging for the group.


That challenge is the entire point of the system. Your character level is not a measure of relative power (it can be an indicator), but only a measure of how much content you can access. A level 30 character will have comfortable access to level 30 zones, traits, utility skills, and equipment.


The system was a little aggressive during the beta event. I would frequently find myself 2 to 3 levels below the enemy levels--despite having an actual level equal to those enemies--outside an event. During an event that is expected, as explained above, for keeping the event challenging. Outside an event... it's a little frustrating to be level 11, surrounded by level 10 enemies, and downgraded to level 8.

Removing the Trinity

This is pretty big, and encompasses several aspects of game play. Combat is based on dealing damage to your opponent, and limiting the damage you take from the fight. There are no heal or defensive abilities that can save you if you don't try to actively avoid incoming damage. Dodging isn't a gimmick, and strafing your target is a good start.

In World of Warcraft I played as a shaman and as a hunter. I spent some time with warlock and mage, but not past level 20. Those are all fairly stationary combat styles, except that the hunter can fight on the run with lower damage output. The biggest difference is the amount of moving you do in combat. It took a while for the concept that moving doesn't interrupt spells and abilities (and conversely, you can't cancel them by moving), sunk in. Standing in one place is actually hazardous, so if you come to this game from WoW you will be actively punished for not adapting.

Most players focus on the loss of out-healing incoming damage when talking about this feature, but that is not all that was removed. There is no tanking of enemies. If you let yourself get hit repeatedly, no matter your defenses, you will die. Aside from dodging, most professions have skills that move you, which can be used to get out of harms way, or rapidly bring you to combat distance.

All this movement is what got me in trouble. I am very comfortable with stationary combat from all my time playing World of Warcraft. Once I started moving around during combat, fights became slightly easier. Eventually, I realized that I almost never wanted to use keys to turn left or right, and rebound those keys to strafe. With easy circling available, fights became much easier. When the next beta rolls around, I'll bind the original strafe keys to actions, since I really can't see a reason to turn via keyboard.

All in all, this is a wonderful game, which amazing amounts of thought and planning put into it. There are many changes over a game like World of Warcraft that are going to take me a while to notice and adapt to, but already I know I'm going to enjoy participating in events all over the world, instead of just in appropriately leveled regions.