GW2 realese date speculations

[Sabre Wolf]

Originally Posted by 4thVariety

Try to approach this from the regular player's perspective. All he sees is the action around him and hopefully the game can fill in the blanks of who is fighting whom for which stakes? How long is it going to take? Where do I start to participate? What options does the game give a player who came to do something different altogether? If I log in, I need to communicate to the game whether I came to do storyquests, sidequests, raids or event-chasing. Then I need the game to bring me there without wasting my time. Because if this game is not going to serve me 45 minutes of entertainment in the evening, Mr.TiVo or another game will. If I join the middle of a battle, then the game should provide me with the information I need to participate in a productive manner.

I am pretty sure that if I am walking through an area, and a war is going on at a town I am passing by... that is going to get my attention rather quickly (unless I am strapped for time). Especially if it is the town I need to go to in order to complete my quest I am working on. But I think ANET has already pointed out that some of these non-instanced events, like the Centaur attacking a garrison, will have incentives for a player getting involved; like loosing the ability to go to the town. Also, if I log into an area... and a Centaur is comming at me to kill me... I pretty dang sure I am going to figure out what the heck is going on rather quickly.

[4thVariety]

Originally Posted by Sabre Wolf

Also, if I log into an area... and a Centaur is comming at me to kill me... I pretty dang sure I am going to figure out what the heck is going on rather quickly.

Imagine that sort of gameplay after 100h, or 300h. At best you are skilled enough to swat them like flies, but it will still be an annoying thing to deal with while micromanaging your character data sheet. If Centaurs attack because someone tripped over the walkline activating their spawncloset then the area does have as much replay value as any other random quest. Things have to get a little bit more creative than random mobbashing.

Originally Posted by Var

You log on into the middle of a war, the game naturally gives you enemies to kill. [...] Why fight the centaur? Because the previously established lore has set them as your enemies.

If you give enemies the emotional depth of the diamond shaped enemies in Geometry Wars, then your RPG experience will suffer. Zombies at least have the way they die going for them, but I doubt ArenaNet wants to go down that road. Killing things because the manual tells you to is the way of the fps.

Originally Posted by Var

You don't need the game to tell you what to do, just as it doesn't tell you what to do in L4D. You find something to do, and you do it. Is it killing some centaur/zombie? Is it holding a position on your own or with a bunch of others? Why does the game have to tell you how to have fun?

Maybe I am a fool, but I expect a little more from the giant GW2 areas than roaming around waiting for stuff to spawn and entering a rat race with other people who can chop off Zombie heads first and loot the corpse before it hits the ground.

Originally Posted by Var

What do you mean? They stated that the dragons are territorial, they are against each other as much as they are against us. They are primal aspects of destruction but they never said that they would just sit around picking their noses.

I don't say we need another Pinky & The Brain speech like Varesh gave at one point, but for a villain to work we need evil intentions and we need to hear them from his mouth. Just having him attack people won't work. That does not make your computer game opponents evil or dangerous. Spawning a bunch of mindless attack bots will make the villains appear stiff and mechanic, no matter who they turn out to be. They need personality. "Me dragon, me kill u all, now shiver Emo kids!" is a tiny bit too one dimensional.

Originally Posted by Var

the dragons themselves (from we can see so far) are not "evil" they are simply forces of nature. A hurricane isn't evil.

Which is why 2012 is a funny movie you watch while trying to stay drunk enough to be entertained and James Bond movies have proper villains. Weather makes great special effects and amazing levels, but in order for the fight to get dirty and personal, you need to see that "evil by choice" in your opponent. You just don't get emotionally invested in fighting the wind really. Take Vader before he was "prequeled" into a misunderstood Emo. The movie cut away from the heroes to set up the next assault on Luke and company. Which again, takes time, costs money, so it is not to be overused. But dropping semi-fleshed out villains such as the Lich or Shiro and replacing them by carbon copies of the great destroyer appears to be a bit of a letdown. The great destroyer was a "non character". You might fight him because he is there, but even the ghosts from PacMan have more personality. TGD is not a perceived danger, he is just a gameplay obstacle plain and simple. His plain psyche tears down the 4th wall more than a Bruce Campbell re-dub of Rurik ever could.

Originally Posted by Var

The story aspect, honestly, is the hardest to say anything about atm because we know little to nothing. We are making conjectures on past methods and also on what they have said. This one would be best to let rest till we actually see a part of the story.

True. For all we know the Dragons might give more speeches than we currently know. They might have some style, who knows? Even Sauron had his moments and he is the mother of all boringly one dimensional evil fantasy supervillains. He and his corruption might have been an improvement over the tongue and cheek supervillains before him, but he is nowhere near the modern seducers villains have become.

[HawkofStorms]

Originally Posted by 4thVariety

Small team raids are also on the advance. Instances across all MMOs are closer in size to GW than ever before. While early on people were snobs about GW not having some obtuse uncontrollable 100 player free for alls, they now realize that small teams are just the way to go. Currently 4 player co-op teams seem to be en vogue, not just in RPGs, but in pretty much any genre.

I'd argue that is more due to the design of and popularity of consoles then anything else. Can't split screen much more then that. Everything else I agree with.

[Var]

Originally Posted by 4thVariety

If you give enemies the emotional depth of the diamond shaped enemies in Geometry Wars, then your RPG experience will suffer. Zombies at least have the way they die going for them, but I doubt ArenaNet wants to go down that road. Killing things because the manual tells you to is the way of the fps.

You're really tearing down what I am saying to a bare minimum. I offered L4D because you brought it up, but it doesn't have to be the crux of the example. I was simply saying, that the purest fun from any game of this style is killing and in that sense, a player could have fun by just logging on and seeing an event happening. IE, removing the temporal block you were talking about. I am not saying all events and all enemies will be one dimensional cardboard cut outs, I simply offered an example. I can easily offer another one: You log in and find yourself not in the middle of a warzone of humans vs. centaurs, but in a colorful game of Simon Says with Lazarus casting Spectral Agony on anyone who fails, and rewarding the rest.

Simon Says is not hard to figure out, heck the game could give you a few seconds/a minute of orientation time/invincibility to sort out what is going on and to let you choose if you want to compete or not.

... And, please put in a game of Simon Says with Lazarus Anet. :P

Originally Posted by 4thVariety

Maybe I am a fool, but I expect a little more from the giant GW2 areas than roaming around waiting for stuff to spawn and entering a rat race with other people who can chop off Zombie heads first and loot the corpse before it hits the ground.

See above.

Originally Posted by 4thVariety

I don't say we need another Pinky & The Brain speech like Varesh gave at one point, but for a villain to work we need evil intentions and we need to hear them from his mouth. Just having him attack people won't work. That does not make your computer game opponents evil or dangerous. Spawning a bunch of mindless attack bots will make the villains appear stiff and mechanic, no matter who they turn out to be. They need personality. "Me dragon, me kill u all, now shiver Emo kids!" is a tiny bit too one dimensional.

But we know already that Zhaitan didn't just attack people, he woke up and so did his armies, and he claimed his territory. He saw the races as a threat, just as they saw him as a threat, and we get a war between the two happening 100 years before the story.

He is Zhaitan, the most powerful (iirc) and on Orr no less. Can you imagine all the lore and back story that could come from him and that city alone? Like for example, why was he under it? Was it his prison? The gods built their city on top of him to keep him check?

As for spawning little gnats to kill, if Anet sets up the mood and the tension between humans and centaurs correctly, then they won't just be gnats. They'll be warriors with a story behind them. Its not like this event will be going on 24/7.

Originally Posted by 4thVariety

Which is why 2012 is a funny movie you watch while trying to stay drunk enough to be entertained and James Bond movies have proper villains. Weather makes great special effects and amazing levels, but in order for the fight to get dirty and personal, you need to see that "evil by choice" in your opponent. You just don't get emotionally invested in fighting the wind really. Take Vader before he was "prequeled" into a misunderstood Emo. The movie cut away from the heroes to set up the next assault on Luke and company. Which again, takes time, costs money, so it is not to be overused. But dropping semi-fleshed out villains such as the Lich or Shiro and replacing them by carbon copies of the great destroyer appears to be a bit of a letdown. The great destroyer was a "non character". You might fight him because he is there, but even the ghosts from PacMan have more personality. TGD is not a perceived danger, he is just a gameplay obstacle plain and simple. His plain psyche tears down the 4th wall more than a Bruce Campbell re-dub of Rurik ever could.

I won't argue about the bad creation and existence of the GD but we also have well done villains. I personally liked Shiro's (all be it cliche) story, it just needed to be told better.

Originally Posted by 4thVariety

True. For all we know the Dragons might give more speeches than we currently know. They might have some style, who knows? Even Sauron had his moments and he is the mother of all boringly one dimensional evil fantasy supervillains. He and his corruption might have been an improvement over the tongue and cheek supervillains before him, but he is nowhere near the modern seducers villains have become.

We'll have to wait and see.

[Revi]

Originally Posted by 4thVariety

Imagine that sort of gameplay after 100h, or 300h. At best you are skilled enough to swat them like flies, but it will still be an annoying thing to deal with while micromanaging your character data sheet. If Centaurs attack because someone tripped over the walkline activating their spawncloset then the area does have as much replay value as any other random quest. Things have to get a little bit more creative than random mobbashing.

If you give enemies the emotional depth of the diamond shaped enemies in Geometry Wars, then your RPG experience will suffer. Zombies at least have the way they die going for them, but I doubt ArenaNet wants to go down that road. Killing things because the manual tells you to is the way of the fps.

Maybe I am a fool, but I expect a little more from the giant GW2 areas than roaming around waiting for stuff to spawn and entering a rat race with other people who can chop off Zombie heads first and loot the corpse before it hits the ground.

I don't say we need another Pinky & The Brain speech like Varesh gave at one point, but for a villain to work we need evil intentions and we need to hear them from his mouth. Just having him attack people won't work. That does not make your computer game opponents evil or dangerous. Spawning a bunch of mindless attack bots will make the villains appear stiff and mechanic, no matter who they turn out to be. They need personality. "Me dragon, me kill u all, now shiver Emo kids!" is a tiny bit too one dimensional.

Which is why 2012 is a funny movie you watch while trying to stay drunk enough to be entertained and James Bond movies have proper villains. Weather makes great special effects and amazing levels, but in order for the fight to get dirty and personal, you need to see that "evil by choice" in your opponent. You just don't get emotionally invested in fighting the wind really. Take Vader before he was "prequeled" into a misunderstood Emo. The movie cut away from the heroes to set up the next assault on Luke and company. Which again, takes time, costs money, so it is not to be overused. But dropping semi-fleshed out villains such as the Lich or Shiro and replacing them by carbon copies of the great destroyer appears to be a bit of a letdown. The great destroyer was a "non character". You might fight him because he is there, but even the ghosts from PacMan have more personality. TGD is not a perceived danger, he is just a gameplay obstacle plain and simple. His plain psyche tears down the 4th wall more than a Bruce Campbell re-dub of Rurik ever could.

True. For all we know the Dragons might give more speeches than we currently know. They might have some style, who knows? Even Sauron had his moments and he is the mother of all boringly one dimensional evil fantasy supervillains. He and his corruption might have been an improvement over the tongue and cheek supervillains before him, but he is nowhere near the modern seducers villains have become.

^I Like this guy.

[Mr Shill]

Originally Posted by Konig Des Todes

April 28th 2011

To go with the Prophecies and Factions release dates

What he said.

[Sha Noran]

Originally Posted by 4thVariety

Imagine that sort of gameplay after 100h, or 300h. At best you are skilled enough to swat them like flies, but it will still be an annoying thing to deal with while micromanaging your character data sheet. If Centaurs attack because someone tripped over the walkline activating their spawncloset then the area does have as much replay value as any other random quest. Things have to get a little bit more creative than random mobbashing.

If you give enemies the emotional depth of the diamond shaped enemies in Geometry Wars, then your RPG experience will suffer. Zombies at least have the way they die going for them, but I doubt ArenaNet wants to go down that road. Killing things because the manual tells you to is the way of the fps.

Maybe I am a fool, but I expect a little more from the giant GW2 areas than roaming around waiting for stuff to spawn and entering a rat race with other people who can chop off Zombie heads first and loot the corpse before it hits the ground.

I don't say we need another Pinky & The Brain speech like Varesh gave at one point, but for a villain to work we need evil intentions and we need to hear them from his mouth. Just having him attack people won't work. That does not make your computer game opponents evil or dangerous. Spawning a bunch of mindless attack bots will make the villains appear stiff and mechanic, no matter who they turn out to be. They need personality. "Me dragon, me kill u all, now shiver Emo kids!" is a tiny bit too one dimensional.

Which is why 2012 is a funny movie you watch while trying to stay drunk enough to be entertained and James Bond movies have proper villains. Weather makes great special effects and amazing levels, but in order for the fight to get dirty and personal, you need to see that "evil by choice" in your opponent. You just don't get emotionally invested in fighting the wind really. Take Vader before he was "prequeled" into a misunderstood Emo. The movie cut away from the heroes to set up the next assault on Luke and company. Which again, takes time, costs money, so it is not to be overused. But dropping semi-fleshed out villains such as the Lich or Shiro and replacing them by carbon copies of the great destroyer appears to be a bit of a letdown. The great destroyer was a "non character". You might fight him because he is there, but even the ghosts from PacMan have more personality. TGD is not a perceived danger, he is just a gameplay obstacle plain and simple. His plain psyche tears down the 4th wall more than a Bruce Campbell re-dub of Rurik ever could.

True. For all we know the Dragons might give more speeches than we currently know. They might have some style, who knows? Even Sauron had his moments and he is the mother of all boringly one dimensional evil fantasy supervillains. He and his corruption might have been an improvement over the tongue and cheek supervillains before him, but he is nowhere near the modern seducers villains have become.

You should post more, then I could just quote you a lot and not have to say anything.

I'm even gonna requote the best line out of that.

Originally Posted by 4thVariety

His plain psyche tears down the 4th wall more than a Bruce Campbell re-dub of Rurik ever could.

Bruce Campbell re-dub of Rurik. I'm just relishing in the fact that you said that.

[Huginn]

For thoes who want to hear the conference call, I'll post it on youtube in a bit, will edit/make a new post when it's up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0SBH4iDH_Q

there you go

[skullmount4]

Originally Posted by Huginn

For thoes who want to hear the conference call, I'll post it on youtube in a bit, will edit/make a new post when it's up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0SBH4iDH_Q

there you go

Where did you find the call audio? Do you have any proof that it is from ncsoft?

[Shoyon456]

The audio call is overruled, imho:

Originally Posted by Shew

In light of this news, I found a statement on an ANet artist's website: http://www.yangfanart.com/



Fan Yang has also listed work information for ArenaNet: June 2008 to Nov 2009

Obviously this has been updated recently. I'd take the estimation from the ANet employee. Then again, maybe she didn't update the expected date when she updated her job info.

I know NCSoft is the publisher/parent-company/whatever but I would hope that Anet employees have a better idea of when their work will be released, especially when it means they're no longer needed by Anet and out looking for work and citing when GW2 and their work will be released for past employment.

Also, this should be merged with the other thread.

EDIT: You have to go to her resume, says GW2 expected in 2010. Of course that could change depending on unforseen circumstances, but seems they're not shooting for '11 release as indicated in the conf call, they're shooting for '10.

[Malchior Devenholm]

I am kinda half and half on the Fan Yang deal.

He may have an idea when it's being released, or he may just be an artist who has no idea of NCSoft or Arenanet's design team plans.

I wanna heard the word from Jeff, Regina, Martin, or any of the current Guild Wars 2 core design team.

[Gigashadow]

ArenaNet themselves may not yet know when it's going to ship. They're probably aiming for end of 2010, but that's a whole year away and a slip (e.g. incorporating beta feedback) could push it into 2011. If it's not ready, they'll slip it into the next year.

WoW TBC shipped on the 16th January 2007 -- Blizzard refused to throw it out there even a little earlier just to make the xmas season. ArenaNet are at least as perfectionist.