NCSoft recently held a press tour in the english city of Brighton to demonstrate Guild Wars 2 and as the NDA was lifted yesterday we can probably expect a ton of new info ahead of us. The game is planned to be released sometime this year (expect October-November) and is offering some extraordinary gameplay compared to the usual MMO’s. Focusing the majority of its content on PVP, devoloper ArenaNet has put a lot of effort in its “World vs World vs World”-concept, which bears similarity to Dark Ages of Camelot’s realm-style PVP. It was also revealed during the press tour that Guild Wars 2 strives to become a game for the E-sports scene – with a format of 5v5 gameplay in different maps and with a variety of objectives.
It has been discussed whether Guild Wars 2 offers anything for the casual players other than just pure PVP. And the PVE sure does that. The standard five-man dungeons-experience will be available as you quest your way up to level 80, and is incredibly challenging. However, the most interesting part of the game is the new dynamic event-system, which makes the world of Tyria a fantastic place to be in. As you move through the different landscapes of game there’s a change that you encounter a random generated event that every player in the area can participate in, without the need of being in the same group. For example, that can be a bunch of bandits invading a farm while you’re doing quests at that particular farm. Defeat the bandits and you earn rewards from either loot from the bandits or by gratitude from the farmer. The system is indeed a intersting one and the element of surprise and randomness may be something that adds a little life to the MMO genre.
Guild Wars 2 will not only compete against giants such as World of Warcraft, RIFT and Star Wars: The Old Republic. It might also meet its biggest challenge in its own gameplay. ArenaNet wants to completely remove the standard progressions and reward-system that is so common to todays MMO’s. This means that instances and quests does not reward better gear. Dungeons, and eve PVP, instead offers visual gear without any progress to your own stats. Everyone will have the same conditions, regardless of class or professions. How will the players react to that sort gameplay mechanics? We eagerly await more reports from ArenaNet regarding this. Guild Wars 2 might be the game that revolutionizes the genre.