Guild Wars 2: Pre-Release Discussion

[Rysa]

Based on that, you think it's going to take a healthy PC to run it smoothly? I'm assuming yes by the fact that it'll be a late 2011, early 2012 game but I'm curious.

For what its worth, Colin Johanson said that they have to buy vid cards off ebay for new test stations because stores don't carry them anymore, so probably a card from the last gen will be fine to run it. I read somewhere that the demo machines at one of the cons last year used an i5.

[Tonka]

Tell us more stuff!

[Meko]

People are so hungry for a MMO that I hope it's as good as they say it will be. Sadly, nothing matters until it launches or at least until open beta. Hell, FF14 looked awesome in the demos and we know how terrible it is/was/will be.

[Gokulo]

XIV never looked amazing during any real footage. First shots etc. looked amazing, but then it turned out they had nothing else to offer. Here you have a well developed game that looks good both on video and plays very nice according to testers.

[Meko]

I just remember people praising the game during the demos and such. That was my point. I'm not trying to bash the game but I guess I'm hopeful but cautious. I want it to be good but there are some things that kind of worry me. I'm interested to see how having no trinity will make grouping interesting or needed.

[vrumpt]

I'm looking to see how not having trinity plays out too, because its a risky move. Going off of demos they've shown it and gameplay i've seen it looks like its pretty easy to get into a downed state, even from demos played by devs. I don't think people are going to be used to it at first, theres a lot different here and its a risky move despite how fun it looks and plays. Its fine for people like us who are already hyped for it and know about it and everything, but everybody else they got some 'splanin to do.

[Dantrag]

It's also easy to get out of the downed state. I've not seen many videos of anyone using the dodge system effectively either. Most the times when people have died in some of the bigger fights it's been due to bad positioning.

[Vimes]

I just remember people praising the game during the demos and such. That was my point. I'm not trying to bash the game but I guess I'm hopeful but cautious. I want it to be good but there are some things that kind of worry me. I'm interested to see how having no trinity will make grouping interesting or needed.

That's probably the best attitude to have really, being cautious.

I'm a fan; played the first game, filled my HoM, read the books. I'll buy GW2. But I'm still cautious as well, and also curious I guess, how this game will play out. Will it be something we'll be able to play for years, or will it grow old fast after a few weeks?

I really hope Dynamic Events work out. It's pretty risky since they make up the bulk of the game.

As for dodging, they should just map dodge to shift button (+ directional keys) or so. But they'll get there eventually, they're slowly switching to a more action-oriented combat & controls while still hesitant to make it a full action RPG. Perhaps they don't want to alienate the GW crowd too much.

[Zerocool]

Well they said that you can bind dodge to whatever key you want. But from the demos I'm not sure if people are able to adjust their key binds or not. Even if they are, I'm sure most wouldn't bother as they probably just want to spend their time playing the game since the demos are limited.

They are going pretty far from the norm, but I think that's what is going to draw most people in. Like they said, if you like MMOs, you'll want to check out GW2. If you hate MMOs, you'll really want to check out GW2. There's a lot of people that don't like MMOs because of the pacing, the linear solo quest grind, tab target system, trinity, etc. And then there's people that like MMOs, but are sick of those things as well. It's also going to really cater to the players that like mass events and huge boss battles, since the bulk of the game will be made up of these.

[Takiwaki]

There is tab targeting btw it does not play anything like say vindictus or dragon nest.

[Meko]

Without having a trinity, how will they handle gear? By class or type? Those things interest me a little bit. With no trinity, will their be support or buff classes? Imo, the BEST thing Rift did to the MMO world is bring back support classes. I love support classes that are amazing in a group. It makes being a support class fun and beneficial. With the WoW-esque MMO's, they did away with group mechanic (aside from singular buffs - ie Kings/Paw/Fist/Fort etc) and they made more fasterer killer DPS modes.

[Zerocool]

Well yeah, but it's more like a hybrid between the two right? You can target, but you still have to be in range for your skills to hit because they'll still go off even if you're not in range, and you can also manually dodge. Or I guess maybe more similar to AoC, but with dodging.

[Gokulo]

Without having a trinity, how will they handle gear? By class or type? Those things interest me a little bit. With no trinity, will their be support or buff classes? Imo, the BEST thing Rift did to the MMO world is bring back support classes. I love support classes that are amazing in a group. It makes being a support class fun and beneficial. With the WoW-esque MMO's, they did away with group mechanic (aside from singular buffs - ie Kings/Paw/Fist/Fort etc) and they made more fasterer killer DPS modes.

Each class has some healing and buffing abilities when using certain weapons - it's just a matter of how you choose to play at the moment.

[Katlan]

Spoiler: show

k, firstly the videos do no do justice to how amazing the areas/the maps look on this game, the textures and physics and the ambient sounds, crazy. running by an outpost and you hear npcs talking even calling you, sometimes they even run up to you. everything seems to have physics engine, plants move as you walk through them, shit gets destroyed if u hit it. Everything is smooth in terms of control, it feels very natural, what I do love is the fact that many abilities have movement. You don't just engage hit attack or a skill and it automatically moves you in to range, for short range attacks you need to be in range, but it does auto aim you to a point. some abilities move you around the enemy etc. Like for example. thief class:

With main hand sword off hand dagger it gives you alot of evasive attacks moving you in and out and around the mob automatically. it looks pretty bad ass, also now the evasion actually allows you to dodge attacks at will, but with a limited resource that generates over time.

so you can combo shit like lay down a trap that if triggers turns you invis and teleports you back to the enemy. you drop that behind you and run in some dagger stuff, moving in and out swap to guns and shoot while backing out if in trouble, if they cross the line poof back in and rock some more daggers for some hard dot, swap back to gun blaze out while retreating drop some caltrops, then scorpion wire them, pulling then into the caltrops, etc etc, sorry shits amazing.

I was hype about this shit before but now its beyond that. Even my wife was like holy shit that's cool.

Oh and then there was that event dragon, got owned hard lol not many people were doing the event, and my timer ran out, but epic nonetheless.

As for how events run, its like butter, the events come to you. I was running around and this outpost was taken over by undead, some npcs were dead on the floor, I was alone, the quest triggered automatically and was added to my quest log. I raised a couple and ran in, took out the undead and took back the outpost when it was over got gold ranking and xp and karma, npcs appeared that allowed me to buy stuff etc, after which another even showed up further out on the map talking about the undead in the swamp are trying to make it to the outpost again after driving them back. It was so easy to pick up and play and get into.

This is pretty much what I thought when I got to sit down and play it for 30 min at Comic Con. Sounds like you got more event experience then me though

Each class has some healing and buffing abilities when using certain weapons - it's just a matter of how you choose to play at the moment.

Some classes heal and tank better then others, but all are viable. And healing isn't tied to weapons, its abilities

[Dantrag]

5 is heal for everyone from what I've seen.

[Zerocool]

This was posted before, but who knows where. It's a skill builder, obviously a lot of these will probably change or may have already, and it isn't complete. But it kind of gives you an idea.
http://gw2.luna-atra.fr/skills_tool/?lang=en

[Gokulo]

Some classes heal and tank better then others, but all are viable. And healing isn't tied to weapons, its abilities

True, forgot that heals are separate.

[Katlan]

People are so hungry for a MMO that I hope it's as good as they say it will be. Sadly, nothing matters until it launches or at least until open beta. Hell, FF14 looked awesome in the demos and we know how terrible it is/was/will be.

Anybody who played XIV beta knew the game was complete ass. Most just hoped that the dev's were holding back a lot for retail

[notorious bum]

Anybody who played XIV beta knew the game was complete ass. Most just hoped that the dev's were holding back a lot for retail

FFXIV never even had anything to offer but eyecandy(at first glance) and grandiose Job System promises.

You can't even compare these two: a)manufactured, secretive, vague descriptions, and grafix-hype...with b)extremely transparent, thorough, and plentiful demonstrations that create massive hype through interviews that don't talk to their fanbase like a bunch of idiots who will bend over and accept tentacle rape as a reasonable choice for gameplay offerings.


Maybe SE should have created a Tentacle Rape Sim.

[Takiwaki]

Without having a trinity, how will they handle gear? By class or type? Those things interest me a little bit. With no trinity, will their be support or buff classes? Imo, the BEST thing Rift did to the MMO world is bring back support classes. I love support classes that are amazing in a group. It makes being a support class fun and beneficial. With the WoW-esque MMO's, they did away with group mechanic (aside from singular buffs - ie Kings/Paw/Fist/Fort etc) and they made more fasterer killer DPS modes.

Gear is by weight class, all scholar (mage) classes share gear LIGHT, adventurer (thief, engineer, ranger), MEDIUM and guardian, warrior HEAVY, there are upgrade slots on each piece so it can be customized alot, to suit your profession. there is a dedicated ability for only healing type skills with is key 6, there are different types that can be used. Some classes do have more support type abilities than others to complement the play style but every one have these options.

for example, healing is usually self or aoe targeted around oneself or symbol on the ground, also many many skills have double usage, like enfeeble/dmg enemy but buff people in range at the same time. For example elementalist water attunement has a dot dmg type spells that basically regens everyone in range as its used.

Guardian has an ability that absorbs every condition on people around him in exchange for mega boost in dmg hp speed etc.

Thief can invis everyone or increase movement speed for everyone. or aoe blind using smoke bombs. steal items that heals from a mob.

Ranger pet can raise him if he gets downed and the pet is still alive.

Warriors have banners that can be layed down to buff people in the area with different effects.

I have seen engineer elite skill. drop a box of goodies that includes medical supplies and flame throwers, that you can actually pick up and use!

yes some classes are better in front than others but every class can actually be the center of hate at anytime if they want. and can be built to do this, but the way the game is made is that no class can or able to be a meat shield, there is no way to tank and keep anyone alive like that for long, so its made that you can/have to swap in and out with other people when needed, and whats cool is that any class is able to do this. Because of the weapon swapping and support skill set on the second half of your skill bar, any one can swap into support mode at anytime, its all about how its done. some might be able to evade kite for a while, some might be able to hold bind, some might be able to nullify dmg completely for a bit. etc etc.

Then there are the class combos, like if guardian puts down a symbol of healing on the ground I can shoot through it to turn my bullets into healing bullets. The thing is they want to make it so that these types of combos are strong enough to make people want to use it.