Folks who have been reading this blog for a while know that I took a measured approach to SWTOR, if by measured you mean “expected from the outset to hate it”. As it turns out I quite like SWTOR, but I don’t regret going into it with low expectations. People are so enthusiastic about new games, believing that each one will “fix” the MMO genre and create a perfect world, and if there’s anything I feel a need to stamp out it’s unbridled enthusiasm and positive thinking.
Enter: Guild Wars 2. My immediate reaction is to be sceptical, and that reaction has only been strengthened by a few unfortunate run-ins with Guild Wars 2 superfans. You know the ones. They shout about Bioware and “TORtanic” and how GW2 will be a REAL game for REAL PvPers (who, we can presume, are REAL men). It would be more frustrating if I didn’t know that they were wrong — GW2 certainly emphasizes PvP, but ArenaNET has definitely spent a lot of time creating a newbie-friendly combat style and lots of other varied content.
We are so far away from knowing much about this game that it seems baseless to do much speculating about it now, but that has never stopped me before. Apparently the first closed beta tests for players will be at the end of March, so hopefully we know more about it then. In the meantime:
One Good Thing About GW2 So Far
World vs. World (vs. World) battles look amazing. For actual footage of the fight I like this video from Yoggscast. The idea is that three servers will join in battle over a huge area that will last somewhere around two weeks. During the battle you can contribute a number of ways, such as working together to build siege trebuchets, or capturing a keep with your guild. Keeps can be reinforced and will fly the flag of your guild.
Over the past few years my playstyle has changed to encompass at leat 50% PvP, but beyond interesting gameplay ideas this screams “community building” to me. You will work together with your server and with your guild on medium-term plans. Allying with other trusted guilds on your server seems to make sense so they can keep an eye on your castle. And none of the action is limited to level-capped characters! There is the nub of a very cool feature in all this, and one that promises to organically build a community.
One Bad Thing About GW2 So Far
Many, many years ago, well before I ever played an MMO, my good friend started talking about this new game she was playing, called “Everquest”. It was a social experience, she explained, and went on to add, “I play a Cleric and they’re pretty rare so people always want me to help them!” I made a mental note that people like healers, and when it came time to make my first MMO character that is exactly what I gravitated towards.
As it turns out, I also love playing a healer! I have healed in every MMO I played. I have a small army of holy priest alts in WoW. I am born to heal, baby.
Unfortunately, there are no healers in GW2. No tanks, either. Instead from what I understand every character has a small heal or two, and otherwise you just dodge and look after yourself. Now look, I know that waiting around for a tank or healer to run your dungeon group is a pain in the butt for DPS, and I sympathize. However, on a completely selfish level I worry that I am not going to enjoy being one of infinite numbers of DPS now. Battlefield healing is my bag, man, and I am actually quite concerned if I will even enjoy the game if they just give me a stick and tell me to hit people with it.
Interestingly enough, the lack of a tank and healer means (from what I can tell) that PvE dungeons are basically just an aggro-bouncing mess. I’ve heard multiple reports of the dungeons being boring, and the fights being boring. Instead of having “tank and spank” bosses, Guild Wars 2 seems to be favoring a “just spank” approach.
I completely agree. I’ve been meaning to write a post defending the “Holy Trinity” of MMO combat for a while now, but just haven’t gotten around to it.
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Haha, I’m of course completely of the opposed faction, but you probably know this. ;) I too have always healed in WoW and other MMOs, but I’m just at a stage where that concept is exhausted for me, personally. nobody knows if GW2′s approach will be better, but it’s worth trying something new and see what happens. that said, it will always have downsides like everything does and it’s obviously a bit of a turn-off for sworn healers or tanks. maybe they’ll adjust or GW2 is simply the wrong game for them.
I still hope you’ll give it a shot though, there are way too many interesting things besides the class/role changes imo. :)
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Oh I’m sure I’ll give it a shot, although I’m not sure right now if that would be at launch or after a few months. The WvW stuff is quite interesting, if nothing else!
That’s the fundamental problem with trying to break the “holy trinity”. Without the tank to serve as an anchor for the encounter, dictating the positioning and general damage output of the boss, people envision this wonderful world where everyone gets the satisfaction of playing a DPS. In reality, it takes one of two forms: A) it’s an aggro bouncing zergfest with no real challenge, or B) they actually tune the fights tightly, and it’s no longer “Everyone’s a DPS!” it’s “Everyone’s the tank?”
If people complained about “dancy” encounters in WoW just because DPS players were expected to not stand in the fire and occasionally push a button, it’ll go to a new level if every encounter expected every player to bear the survivability burden that the tank bears in high end encounters.
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hmmm. people that like to tank and people that like to heal tend to be people that like group play. I wonder how that’s going to affect thier game if they aren’t rewarding those that like the holy trinity style of play?
I guess I’m a bit late on this post haha, but I’d like to clarify a few things about how profession (class) roles works in GW2. At first I was stoked about the prospect of no holy trinity, but then I realized that my mains in WOW were all healers as well! In Rift, I loved playing support classes such as the Warlord. So I was afraid DPS was the only possible role to fill in GW2. I did more research though and I’ve realized that even though there doesn’t need to be a holy trinity, you can still be a “healer” of sorts. I’ll explain by discussing the Elementalist. This prof. is your typical mage-esque type, with an interesting twist. We know the warrior in WOW has stances he can assume (berserker, defensive, battle), which effect his role. If you’re going to tank, you would generally do defensive stance (and you most likely have the prot tree filled). Much like the stances, the Elementalist has “attunements” that s/he can switch to, which effect combat style. There are four attunements, each corresponding to a different basic element (earth, air, fire, water). Fire does damage with burning effects, and air does damage that’s based around constantly moving around and avoiding attacks. The other two elements are where it really gets interesting. Attuning to Earth gives your defensive stats a boost and is based around absorbing damage, or being “tanky.” I think you would be interested in the Water attunement. While you’re attuned to water, each time you use a spell, players around you are healed. Not only that, but some of the spells themselves are healing spells. Now, with all this being said, note that this won’t give you the exact same role as a standard mmo would. You won’t just be standing back and watching health bars, constantly casting an HOT or direct heal. You will still have to do damage, less actual damage than a fire attuned elementalist would, but you will also be healing your team, not so much directly, but in a supportive way, while using aoe healing fields. Another aspect of GW2, which works somewhat like talent trees, to a less intense extent, are traits, which you can put into building your character the way you want. I believe the Elementalist’s five traits are fire magic, water magic, air magic, earth magic, and arcane magic. If you put points into water magic, you’ll most likely receive passive benefits that increase your healing. There’s a traits calculator online you can check, I’ll put the link. http://www.gw2builds.org/ I hope this answered any uncertainties you have about the game, and I’m sorry it was so lengthy!!