Arena.net updated their Guild Wars 2 FAQ a few days ago. One particular item was of interest — and concern — to me:
How will character progression work? Will you be raising the level cap
Guild Wars 2 will have the kind of extensive character advancement appropriate to a persistent world RPG. It is our priority to avoid forcing players into the grind-based gameplay that too often accompanies a high level cap.
Also, to allow players the freedom to play together even if their friends are at a much higher (or lower) level, we are planning to implement a strong sidekicking system, similar to that used in City of Heroes.
We’re applying this same philosophy to competitive play. Players will be able to engage in organized, balanced PvP (similar to GvG in the original Guild Wars) without needing to first level up characters, find equipment, or unlock skills. While inside the organized PvP area, all characters will be the same power level and will have access to the same equipment.
/sigh
I’ve always felt one of the sources of confusion many players had in their attempts to adapt to Guild Wars was having levels at all. It’s a skills-based game, and the majority of the game takes place at level cap. The leveling phase is fairly quick and serves only to introduce you to the basic concepts of the game, nothing more. If you come into Guild Wars with the levels-and-gear-based mentality that most MMO’s have, you’re doing it “wrong” and will only walk away in disappointment.
When Arena.net originally announced Guild Wars 2 would be raising the level cap, or possibly have no level cap at all, I was immediately concerned. This takes away from everything Guild Wars stands for and lowers it to the sewer standards of a typical MMO. Having no level cap raised questions of balancing with mobs and other characters, then I thought of Asheron’s Call. AC is also a skills-based game, but it does have levels. However, your level is not an indication of your power like it would be in other MMO’s, but merely an indication of the total xp you’ve accrued on that character. Vanity abounds in Guild Wars, from elite armors, to green weapons, to title tracks, to mini-pets, and even Collector’s Edition emotes. Guild Wars also keeps track of your total xp (since you still “ding” repeatedly after reaching “level cap”) but it’s only available to you, no one else can see it. Within that context, a limitless level cap would actually make sense in the Guild Wars universe.
However, with this recent FAQ update, and the mere mention of a CoX-like sidekick system, I am very concerned that in GW2 levels, and all their associated problems, will suddenly matter. I think part of me just died inside…
Tags: Guild Wars
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Your not the only one with this concern. Being such a huge Guild Wars fan, I will seriously cry if they make a WoW type game with Guild Wars 2. I’m not a fan of grinding just to gain levels and access to further stages of the game. Although the side kick system sounds cool, it implies there will be a lot of leveling involved… sigh
Have faith though, the guys at Anet seem to have a good idea on how to build an MMO. They haven’t failed me yet… /holdbreath
It does seem very strange that every innovation they’ve managed to break into the genre with GW, they’re going to abandon to make it more like what the masses are used to. I enjoy persistent worlds and level progression, and I have a feeling I will enjoy GW2 if they make it the way they’re saying so far, but to just disregard that innovation like that… it concerns me.
That is of course, unless they just blow our minds with some way to create an entirely new system that solves all of our problems. If anyone can do it… they can
@Shawn: I love persistent worlds but after nearly a decade of same ol’ same ol’ level progression, I was really hoping Arena.net would stick to their guns and be “above all that,” really showing the masses that a skills-based game that isn’t EVE can work, and can work better than the old ones did. Oh well… maybe they’ll still surprise me but I’m very disappointed in this “levels” and “sidekick” business nonetheless.
More disappointment today seeing Massively mention a German interview with Jeff Strain where he said gear will be more important in GW2. Great… it’s turning into another levels-and-gear-based MMO… aren’t we sick to death of those yet?
@Shawn: Please tell me you’ll push to get assigned to GW2 interviews for Massively, and you’ll ask some hard-hitting questions?
For the past 2+ years (roughly), there have been 3 games I’m committed to purchasing unless the wheels come completely off the bus. GW2 is one of those games. The early description of features addressed the few things that kept me from liking it - private/instance quest zones, static world and too many invisible barriers for an explorer such as I.
I expect that many game developers and publishers would like a bigger slice of the MMO pie that Blizzard has made abundantly clear is out there. I hope they don’t ruin what it’s existing population loves about the game chasing players eating frm the other table. AC vs AC2 visions of failure dance in my head. All I want is an open world like most other MMOs and they’re free to leave the rest exactly as it is now. Not like they care what I want.
Interesting I will have to keep an eye on this. I like Guild Wars but stink so bad at PVP i had to give it up