One of the aspects of leveling in Guild Wars 2 that players are most looking forward to is the game’s dynamic event system. Let’s face it, questing in a static world gets pretty boring, and the promise of dynamic content– content that actually shifts, changes, and presents danger to us– seems like a breath of fresh air to us after years of plugging away at killing boars and wolves. A game world that actually comes to life based on the acts of players in the area? The ability to make a difference in this world? Sign me up.

The system sounds fantastic on paper, and has proven to be enjoyable in beta for most players who have taken part, but some remain skeptical. Why? Because we’ve heard the promise before. We’ve seen it in other games. Warhammer Online’s Public Quests are advertised as dynamic events, and so is a large portion of RIFT’s content. RIFT is an interesting comparison here, because RIFT’s dynamic content is one of its main focuses. RIFT is about, well, rifts. And huge, planar invasion forces. And zone events that can make an entire map gloomy until danger subsides. Despite all this, however, RIFT’s dynamic content is very different from Guild Wars 2′s. Let’s talk about how.

First off, there are some good reasons why players generally compare RIFT’s and Guild Wars 2′s dynamic events. For one thing, the name’s the same. Both games feature events that are dynamic in nature, can randomly pop up at any point, and scale in a way that encourage players to group together to take down the enemy. At least, that’s the goal. RIFT uses a public grouping system, similar to Warhammer Online’s, which makes it simple for players to group up and take down tough mobs. Once grouped, players share loot, and even without using the grouping system, players are able to obtain planar-related loot and currency.

The system works most of the time, except for the fact that are still two factions that can’t group together, and that, for the most part– RIFT is a game that favors solo gameplay in non-instanced environments. Players will often avoid public groups altogether, or make their own guild groups instead. Even planar enemies become “tagged”, and provide additional loot to the owner of the mob. Non-event mobs and quest objectives are as solo-friendly as in other, typical MMOs, and it’s often hard for players to break the solo-friendly habit.

Guild Wars 2 takes the public grouping idea and propels it a couple yards further. Why have players publicly group only for special events, when the world itself could encourage cooperation? Why can’t players gain experience and loot from mobs they’ve helped kill even while not grouped? Why not let players all mine the same ore nodes?

Cooperation is one of the traits currently missing in many MMOs right now, which is quite disappointing given the ‘M’ that stands for multiplayer in ‘MMORPG’. Guild Wars 2 is attempting to change that, and encourages cooperation across the board. There’s no need to join a special group to finish off a tough dynamic event boss, and there’s no need to peer around anxiously for a tank. With no solid role system and one faction, survival becomes a single, cooperative goal, instead of one spread across small groups who cling together, particular classes, and faction numbers. Breath of fresh air, indeed.

Now, let’s take at a look at the mechanics used in both games. Guild Wars 2′s dynamic events offer a scoring system similar to the one RIFT originally launched with. RIFT’s was more of a scorecard than anything, which proved to cause too much competition among players, and was taken out completely. GW2′s system serves a broader purpose, and merely tallies up a player’s level of participation. Rewards in both games are easily identified.

Objectives are easy to find in both games, and are easily tracked. GW2′s objective bar is used to give players an idea of how long the event lasts for, which serves the same purpose as the multiple stages of most of RIFT’s rifts and events. The bonus stages of RIFT’s events add a fun boost to the objective table, but GW2 has a very cool way of chaining events together that, to me, comes out on top. Not all dynamic events chain across to others, but the ones that do are very enjoyable. That mechanic is quite akin to many of the most recent larger zone events in RIFT, except more unpredictable and not quite as zerg-ridden.

Speaking of zergs, one interesting side effect of dynamic content in both games is the effect of player zerging. RIFT’s world content, currently, is very centered around large groups of players following a single-file line of turtle, spider, raptor, and other assorted creature mounts toward an objective. Once there, everyone slays a common enemy, then zergs off to the next. Part of this zerg-ful way of life is due to the fact that tough mobs need to be tanked, but it’s also due to the fact that the largest mobs and and rifts pop up on every player’s map in the area. Zone events are also globally announced.

Yes, players are brought together nicely, and some gigantic battles ensue, which can be fun, but at the same time– it’s a little dull and predictable. GW2 adds more randomness in their events. Some of GW2′s dynamic events follow this same model of “kill the big guy”, but there are a large number that don’t. The events themselves are also a little more hidden, and players are likely to stumble across them while exploring. This, in turn, encourages players to explore, and if they need assistance, to rally for help across chat channels.

Unfortunately, it’s possible that in time, many of GW2′s events may rarely see action due to the somewhat-hidden nature of many dynamic events. Once areas start quieting down, leveling players may avoid the more difficult events altogether. At this point, scaling may have to be further adjusted. But due to the automatic de-leveling system in GW2, this issue may not be as prominent as many of us fear. And for the purposes of GW2′s launch– most players, I think, will find exploration very enjoyable, and immersive.

Immersive. That’s a key word right there for myself and for many fans eager to break free into Tyria this August. Guild Wars 2′s dynamic events are centered around an immersive world, where events are random, numerous, and a little unpredictable. RIFT’s dynamic events have some very solid ideas behind them, if you ask me, but after a few weeks of exploring the game, its rifts, and zone events, it all starts to blend together and become just a tad repetitive. Don’t get me wrong– I still enjoy RIFT– but for a game supposedly focused on “rifts” as the name would suggest, its dynamic content could use some serious love.

Then there’s the issue of impact. RIFT’s dynamic events used to shape the world around them a lot more than they currently do. Entire quest hubs used to be totally taken over, and NPCs would lay dead until players would rally together and clear away the invaders. When maps began to clear out more as the population hit endgame, new players found it impossible to quest without a little assistance from higher level players, and Trion made some changes. Now even failed zone events result in a sudden extermination of bad guys. It’s honestly hard to say dynamic content has an impact on the game world when this happens.

In GW2′s case, failed dynamic events often cause nearby NPCs to not spawn, or for enemies to continue tromping around. Chained events won’t begin until the first is complete. NPCs will complain and mutter until more heros come around and the next event starts. There’s some kind of impact in most cases, even if it’s minor. And the events themselves are different enough as to make most players genuinely curious. Objectives aren’t always about killing– that’s a huge positive there. It’s fantastic seeing some creativity in GW2′s events.

Will GW2′s dynamic event system suffer the same fate as RIFT’s once the game launches? It’s hard to say, but with any luck, the game’s de-leveling system, the focus on exploration, and the way in which events chain to others may save us all. There’s a whole lot of exploration out there. And for players who enjoy just that– I think we’re in for a treat.

Hello fellow Junkies!

When we attended PAX East last weekend we happened to get a few cards that gave us beta codes to use for this weekend! Now, there really is no need to be jealous, because we’re not bragging. On those cards, they gave us extra codes to give to our friends. To get a shot of taking home a code for this weekend’s beta, make sure to follow us on twitter and give us a shout-out, “Hey @GWars2Junkies, I want to get into #GuildWars2 Beta Weekend!“.

We’ll select winners at random, but also making sure you have enough time to download the game and get started!

With that said it is quite apparent that the racial skills need to be balanced. Charzooka is by far not only one of the best idea’s for a racial. Fire rocket barrage, slot 5 skill, has to be the most OP ability shown. It would seem to be one of the best area effect skills in the game. Capable of obliterating complete groups of mobs at a time. Now that may make pve a little easier. In pvp however, it may become game changer. Expect guilds and servers to stack char for WvW and dominate.

Norns have access to what appears to be the longest duration of stealth in the game, using Prowl, skill 5 when in Snow Leopard form. If you’ve watched any thieves using a heavy stealth build in pvp, you may have noticed that stealth is fairly short duration for them. Yet in this video you may notice they have gone longer than a tief yet the stealth buff icon shows no sign of fading.

The Human elites did not have a skill that stands out as OP, at least not to the extent of the other two races. In fact I’d consider them to be the most balanced and the other skills needing to be reigned in some. Then again it could be the opposite and ArenaNet wants racial skills to be potentially powerful for certain builds. I’ve always consider’d racial skills to be more flavor but not be a major deciding factor. Usually unique skills like these are hard to keep balanced due to the their nature and diversity.

Still, this is only beta and ArenaNet has shown their desire to deliver the highest quality of game they can. Other than my speculations on whether or not they have actually done away with the trinity aside. Not once, so far have I felt they have over hyped or failed deliver what they have promised. That gives me the faith that they will tune all skills to be in line with each other. Within reason and probably with a few mistakes here and there. They are after all still semi-human…

There has been one constant in MMOs for the last eight years.  There have been casual MMOs, raiding MMOs, MMOs in space and MMOs in the future but, through them all, the Holy Trinity has been a constant.  The concept of the tank, the healer and the DPS has been ingrained in our heads over years of constant use.  When we face a boss, be it with four of our friends or nineteen of them, it has almost always been with a tank leading the way, a healer healing him and DPS killing the boss.  Sure, there have been a few exceptions, the Shade of Aran from Karazhan being a notable exception, but the exceptions have been few and far between.  The Trinity has always been there.

Guild Wars 2 is turning this supposition on its ear.  Gone are the typical threat mechanics.  Gone are the days of healers standing in the back and spamming their heals.  Gone are the days of only certain classes or specs doing damage to the boss.  In Guild Wars 2 there are no taunts to keep aggro off of other classes, there are no targetable healing spells and every profession is expected to DPS.  The question now becomes: how will the average MMO player handle this change?

Like many GW2 fans, I have spent the better part of the last week watching videos from the Press Beta.  I have watched the WvW videos, the Profession videos and the Dynamic Event videos.   But I have paid special attention to the Catacombs of Ascalon videos.  Its not that I am more excited for the instances than the rest, to the contrary I am much more excited for the WvW content, but because I believe that the instance content will be the biggest shock for MMO players.  For most MMO players the lack of the Trinity will be a total and complete shock, even if they know about it in advance.

In many ways, what I saw in some of the videos and what I believe will happen when the game releases remind me of the ‘Stages of Grief” that psychologist use to explain how people deal with the loss of a loved one.  No, I am not comparing the loss of the Trinity to the loss of a loved one but I do think that it will hit some players hard.

The first thing I see happening is confusion.  Players will rush into the first instance and wander why their Warrior can’t hold aggro.  They will wander why everyone is dying so quickly.  They will not dodge and they will forget to use their self-heals.  They will run around in circles, screaming like a little girl, and wander why this big, bad monster is attacking their Elementalist instead of beating on the big, mean warrior in plate armor.

I expect mass chaos for the first few days and weeks of GW2.  The strategies we have all come to know, after years of gaming, will not work in GW2.  Instead of taunts, we must dodge.  Instead of expecting heals, we must heal ourselves.  New strategies will have to be worked out and new mindsets put in place.  This will take time.

Even after the community starts to understand how GWs works, there will be some players that will be in denial. In one of the videos I watched over the weekend, there was a Guardian that constantly stated in chat that he would tank the mobs while the rest DPS’d them down.  Even after it was obvious that this would not work he continued to attempt it.

I expect a lot of this.  There will be a player who will insist that the Warrior or Guardian in his group carry a shield and tank.  There will be a player that will insist that the elementalist stay in ‘heal spec’ and heal.  And, yes, there will be players who get mad and yell at group mates when they refuse to do it his way.  Denial will be rampant and the old mindset will rear its ugly head often.

The next stage will be one of two things; anger or acceptance.  Many players will just not be able to handle the loss of the Trinity.  These will be players who cannot fathom a boss fight without a tank, a tank without a healer and a boss dying without dedicated DPS.  Very soon after release you will see these players on GW2 and MMO forums complaining about the lack of the Trinity.  Only they will mask what they are truly angry about and instead call the game ‘EZ Mode’.  They will lament the loss of the Trinity and rage against the lack of raids.  Forums will be rife with these people as they take out their anger on the game and the community.

For the rest of us, we will learn to adapt.  We will recognize the loss of the Trinity for what it is; a new challenge.  Many of us will find the new system refreshing and less constraining than the Trinity and we will rejoice because of it.  We will find the fact that we do not have to spam general chat for a tank and healer something to be excited about.  But most of all, we will play the game and ignore those who can’t stand the loss of the Trinity.

The release of GW2 will be an exciting time, not only because its a new game but because its a new way of doing things.  The Trinity is dead; long live GW2.

The MMORPG genre is growing faster now than ever before. From Everquest to World of Warcraft, Warcraft to Age of Conan, and in 2011 we saw two major titles released in Rift and Star Wars: The Old Republic. With the clock beginning to tick in 2012, there are multiple AAA titles scheduled to be released, but nothing grabs our attention more than Guild Wars 2. With the massive success of it’s predecessor, our expectations are sky high.

Last year we got our hands on the game at PAX Prime, and all we can say is that our expectations aren’t high enough!

To give a little background on the series, in Guild Wars 1 the only time you had to spend money was buying the box. It proved that there is a way to make a quality game, enjoyed by millions, and not require a subscription to sustain a high quality experience. On top of that, ArenaNet did a fantastic job of creating a beautiful world, with a unique art style that still looks great to this day. These are the two major features that both Guild Wars 1 and 2 share but beyond the story and lore, everything else has changed; changed for the better.

Guild Wars 1 did not have an open, persistent world. Players met in instances cities or towns where they could form groups, sell and trade goods and hire NPC mercenaries before setting off to do quests in individually created instances. Guild War 1 was also limited to the fact that you could not jump. Detractors of the game often complained that you had to walk around the smallest drop in terrain and much of the game was hidden behind invisible walls and closed off maps.

For those that weren’t Guild Wars 1 fans, they often assume that Guild Wars 2 is going to be exactly the same, but they can’t be farther from the truth. Guild Wars 2 will bring to you everything you would expect from a modern AAA title. GW2 has full modern control schemes, including jumping and swimming, along with a wide open and beautifully crafted world that is not only persistent, it’s dynamic. At PAX Prime we were shown the Charr starting area where the world appeared to be alive and doing things regardless if we participated or watched. You really got a sense that you were part of the environment rather than playing through the environment.

Let’s take a moment to explain the difference between being “part of the environment” vs. “playing through the environment”. Most modern MMORPGs have you playing through a series of scripted events or quests to progress your character, this is often referred to as a “theme park”. This is what we mean by “playing through the environment”; the world is there for you to consume in a certain scripted series of events or plot-lines and often does not leave you with choice. In Guild Wars 2, this is not the case: the player becomes “part of the environment”.

When we say you are “part of the environment” we mean that as the player you are not the main focus of the events going on around you. Yes, Guild Wars 2 has individual story lines for each character, but that is just a small part of the world around you. When you step out of the starter area you are immediately placed in a world where things are happening. You see friendly NPCs rushing to different points of interest and defending them from incoming enemies. You can see the world around you physically change as these events shift back and forth. When we say you are “part of the environment”, we mean that you are either the hero or the voyeur, the assistant or fighter; these events continue whether you do something or not.

The great part of these events is that you can change the outcome. You can choose to be the hero and complete local objectives to turn the tide of the events going around you, or you can run by and ignore them; it’s up to you.

In our opinion, if you are “playing through the environment”, the environment becomes a tool or a means to an end. When you are “part of the environment”, it alters your perception of the world around you and it becomes something bigger. You are now living in this world, and you become part of it. This is what Guild Wars 2 is bringing to the table.

Guild Wars 2 has taken the dynamic elements of Warhammer’s Public Quests and the spontaneity and open world dynamic content of RIFT and created a world around that design philosophy. From our experience with the hands-on demo, Guild Wars 2 is primed to become something special.

Guild Wars 2 Junkies is going to help you bring this experience in the months to come. Beta is just around the corner and release is coming this year. Stay tuned to our website as we share our experiences from PAX Prime and PAX East where we’ll talk about classes (hopefully the Mesmer is demoed at PAX!), weapons, skills, pvp and more.

Welcome to Guild Wars 2 Junkies!

Eric Flannum, Lead Game Designer for Guild Wars 2, gives us an end of the year update:

Hey, there! It’s time for another update on some of the new things we’ve been working on. Jon and I have a lot to talk about this time, so I’ll get started with our achievement system before I hand things over to Mr. Peters, who’ll talk about some more subtle combat refinements as well as recent changes to the thief.

We’ve spoken about and even shown achievements briefly in the past; however, we’ve never really spoken in much depth about the system.

The first thing you’ll need to know is that there are now three different types of achievements located in your achievement panel. First, there is what we refer to as just “achievements.” You’re probably familiar with these: they tend to be similar to the achievements in the original Guild Wars and many other games, which means they tend toward things that are difficult or time consuming to achieve. These types of achievements are designed to reward long-term progress and are all account based. They include things like the Centaur Slayer achievement, which tracks how many centaurs you’ve killed, as well as achievements specific to each of the different story arcs. Achievements encompass all aspects of the game from WvW to PvE to PvP, and even noncombat activities, such as trading and leisure games. Each achievement is divided into tiers, and every tier you complete awards you with achievement points. As your achievement points accumulate, they are reflected in your account’s achievement score. This score is easily viewable in both the friends and guild panels and is an easy way for you to compare your overall level of achievement progress with your friends and guild mates.

Follow the link above for the full update.