Brilliant work OP, i take off my top hat to you.One question , is it true that we they will be adding new dynamic events to all the zones,including the starter ones,after the initial release?Also did they menton somthing about adding new weapons ie for future expansions or large patch contents? Thanks and keep up the good work
Btw, the question that follows the question I'm linking (the one about aggro) has a more updated answer than what Colin says in this video.
As far as adding new weapons, I'm not finding any interview where they've mentioned it. They may be wanting not make any promises about expansions before the core game is even out.
However, in GW: Nightfall they added scythes to go with the Dervish class and spears to go with the Paragon class (it also looks like daggers were added in Factions because of Assassins). GW2 is totally different in the way it handles weapons, and not to mention that some of the elements of these classes seem to be molded together into new GW2 classes like the Guardian. However, the Canthan and Elonian peoples seem to be well received and opening up those continents again would be very logical for expansion content. The Elonian army are called the Sunspears. So while I can't confirm it, all these things lead me to believe that there will be new weapons in expansions.
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it."-Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
Wow, just wow, awesome posting! Thanks. Already have been dying for GW2 to come out but this really puts things together and makes me completely okay for the wait.
-------------------------------- Currently Playing: Guild Wars 2 and Path of Exile
Excellent summary. You know, I knew 90% of the stuff in this post... But I have never seen it all in one place. Pulling it all together just makes me realize how amazingly huge GW2 is going to be, and how authentically unique it will be.
Ok, so I've wanted a game company to take an AAA game like UO or SWG and recreate those games but with one step forward. That is unrealistic, I understand that AAA developers are operating in a fear-economy and they are unwilling to take a risk on a sandbox game. This is really the next best thing... Arenanet has taken everything they know about the success of WoW and GW1 and used what they understand is the natural progression of themepark MMO's to take a large step forward in gameplay and content.
I am not vastly impressed, but I respect it and I recognize that this will be an excellent game. I will definitely be giving Anet my $$, and I hope for the best for them. The copy-cat direction of recent big-budget MMO's is dispicable and I have no respect for game companies that do not try to push the genre to the next level. Anet is not one of those companies.
Originally posted by stealthbr
Jesus, I wouldn't be surprised if you told me you worked for ArenaNet.
The OP should get a job offer at Anet after writing all that! Must have taken him forever.
As a side note to the community on this website... I think we need to lower our expectations of the Dynamic Event system. I think GW2 is going to be a great game, but not because of this system... It is more of a gimmick than anything, and a nice way to make quests feel slightly more meaningful because you can look around and see whats 'changed'. But in the end, very little will really change, and you'll be bored of it just like other quests.
By then you'll be enamored by all the other great things about GW2 that the OP has listed, hopefully, (if GW1 is any indication it is the combat gameplay and PvP), and we won't all be back at the forums complaining about another WoW copy.
...And that is what differentiates GW2's dynamic events from Rifts' Rifts and SWTOR's voice overs.
As a side note to the community on this website... I think we need to lower our expectations of the Dynamic Event system. I think GW2 is going to be a great game, but not because of this system... It is more of a gimmick than anything, and a nice way to make quests feel slightly more meaningful because you can look around and see whats 'changed'. But in the end, very little will really change, and you'll be bored of it just like other quests.
By then you'll be enamored by all the other great things about GW2 that the OP has listed, hopefully, (if GW1 is any indication it is the combat gameplay and PvP), and we won't all be back at the forums complaining about another WoW copy.
...And that is what differentiates GW2's dynamic events from Rifts' Rifts and SWTOR's voice overs.
You know... GW2 blows my mind.
When I look at games like Rift and SWTOR, and how little they actually accomplished in every single measureable way compared to Anet, I don't know how the devs can look themselves in the mirror. I think the same thing when I look at The Secret World, which will be a very different game and probably not as mainstream as GW2, but is still pushing forward the themepark genre. What a huge missed opportunity for Bioware. I'm not saying this as a SWTOR "hater" either. I wanted SWTOR to own; it just didn't.
All those things in GW2, and Buy-To-Play. It's insane. Whenever I read about this game, I start throwing money at the screen, but nothing happens.....
A sure sign that you are in an old, dying paradigm/mindset, is when you are scared of new ideas and new technology. Don't feel bad. The world is moving on without you, and you are welcome to yell "Get Off My Lawn!" all you want while it happens. You cannot, however, stop an idea whose time has come.
Excellent summary. You know, I knew 90% of the stuff in this post... But I have never seen it all in one place. Pulling it all together just makes me realize how amazingly huge GW2 is going to be, and how authentically unique it will be.
Ok, so I've wanted a game company to take an AAA game like UO or SWG and recreate those games but with one step forward. That is unrealistic, I understand that AAA developers are operating in a fear-economy and they are unwilling to take a risk on a sandbox game. This is really the next best thing... Arenanet has taken everything they know about the success of WoW and GW1 and used what they understand is the natural progression of themepark MMO's to take a large step forward in gameplay and content.
I am not vastly impressed, but I respect it and I recognize that this will be an excellent game. I will definitely be giving Anet my $$, and I hope for the best for them. The copy-cat direction of recent big-budget MMO's is dispicable and I have no respect for game companies that do not try to push the genre to the next level. Anet is not one of those companies.
Originally posted by stealthbr
Jesus, I wouldn't be surprised if you told me you worked for ArenaNet.
The OP should get a job offer at Anet after writing all that! Must have taken him forever.
When i read it first, I actually thought it was direct from Anet hehe, good job op.
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
As a side note to the community on this website... I think we need to lower our expectations of the Dynamic Event system. I think GW2 is going to be a great game, but not because of this system... It is more of a gimmick than anything, and a nice way to make quests feel slightly more meaningful because you can look around and see whats 'changed'. But in the end, very little will really change, and you'll be bored of it just like other quests.
By then you'll be enamored by all the other great things about GW2 that the OP has listed, hopefully, (if GW1 is any indication it is the combat gameplay and PvP), and we won't all be back at the forums complaining about another WoW copy.
...And that is what differentiates GW2's dynamic events from Rifts' Rifts and SWTOR's voice overs.
You are looking at dynamic events the wrong way.
That they are dynamic is just a bonus which helps with immersion and replayability.
The real reason to be excited about dynamic events is the idea of a purely cooperative PVE world. This is a game where there's no competition over mobs, tagging, ground objects, nodes, anything. It's not even just the idea that you can stumble across an event and be able to do it with everybody else. It's that the game actually encourages random people to stick together. More mobs spawning means more xp and loot for everyone. It makes the DEs more chaotic and fun. Cross profession combos and everybody rez everybody gives strangers methods that they can help each other. DEs chain together so that people have a natural inclination to stay and work together and hopefully start talking. Instant teleportation and automentoring lets you quickly meet up with those people again.
I do also love that they're immersive, immediate, visual, repeatable, failable, and have at least a persistent effect on the world. But for me, the real reason to be excited about them is because they're hopefully going to fundamentally change how we view other players.
As far as boredom goes, people get bored of quests for a lot of reasons. They don't want to do them because the real game starts at the endgame. Or because they're an isolating, solo experience. Or because they've done them all before in their last toon. Or because the developer is lazy and the quests are repetitive. Or because the only ones you can do are dailies. Or because the combat is always 1,2,3,4,5 dead. Not to drag this post out, but you can make an argument that ArenaNet is at least trying to make none of these things apply to GW2. That's another reason to be excited.
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it."-Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
Gotta give props to the OP for this article. Its very good. My guild is waiting for this game and I linked this article to feed their addiction for a little while; they loved it.
I wasn't really interested in GW2, but now I am! Just a couple of questions I couldn't find on wiki and official site.
1- I read somewhere here that there won't be region or ip block, but couldn't find at the official site/forum. Is that true?
2- Do you think they'll ship the box here to South America players?
Sorry if those questions have been done before, I just couldn't find an answer.
Btw, going to try GW1 later
If you can obtain GW1 in South America then I am sure they will ship GW2 to you. However I don't think there were any SA servers for GW1 (I could be wrong) so you may have to play on NA servers.
Other than that I cannot find any other information for you at this time.
I wasn't really interested in GW2, but now I am! Just a couple of questions I couldn't find on wiki and official site.
1- I read somewhere here that there won't be region or ip block, but couldn't find at the official site/forum. Is that true?
2- Do you think they'll ship the box here to South America players?
Sorry if those questions have been done before, I just couldn't find an answer.
Btw, going to try GW1 later
GW1 let you switch between different territories but there were some limitations it seems. http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Territory GW2 is different though because it's an MMORPG not a CORPG so which server you're on matters for WvW PVP. I don't think we know yet how they're going to do it.
I did remember this question from the ComicCon panel. A guy asks if there will be support for Latin American Spanish as opposed to European Spanish. The answer is that it's not finalized yet but Latin America is a big emerging market and that they're "seriously looking at what they can do to support that." http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=wyYe1JKdrdI#t=2674s
So still too early to tell as far as I know, but the signs are very positive.
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it."-Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
GW2 seems mostly very good indeed, but I have a few concerns. One being the weapon swapping, I knew it was in the game, but I did not know that I absolutely must do that in order to be "competitive" in combat situations. Are you absolutely sure about this? I really do not wish to be required to adhd-weapon swap in order to do as much damage as the adhd-weapon swapping guy next to me. If it just adds to my utility then it's fine, but if I absolutely must do it in order to do as much damage as I can for example in a world boss event, then I'm very dissapointed, I hope someone can clarify a bit on this one?
In RPG's I generally like to choose my favourite weapon/spell school/etc, that's why I like class based games to begin with. Like, I might want to make a warrior in GW2, and just because of my personal preference and because of some roleplaying, my warrior is a 2-handed axe wielding Norn, that's his main weapon of choise. Can I play him using mostly only the 2h axe and still be as effective as the other warrior next to me who uses 13 different weapons in a fight?
I really dont see the point of this system, you could just unlock the abilities and then build your own hotbars as you like, limiting only stuff based on if it's ranged or melee. I'd rather AOE with my 2h axe rather than having to swap to a hammer in middle of fight just to be able to AOE, why?
Very nice work OP. Reading through it, I am reminded of all the things I have already forgotten about the game. I still found some tidbits that I wasn't aware of and the furnace is stoked yet again. Sticky this please.
GW2 seems mostly very good indeed, but I have a few concerns. One being the weapon swapping, I knew it was in the game, but I did not know that I absolutely must do that in order to be "competitive" in combat situations. Are you absolutely sure about this? I really do not wish to be required to adhd-weapon swap in order to do as much damage as the adhd-weapon swapping guy next to me. If it just adds to my utility then it's fine, but if I absolutely must do it in order to do as much damage as I can for example in a world boss event, then I'm very dissapointed, I hope someone can clarify a bit on this one?
My advice is, if you really dislike weapon swapping, play thief. One advantage to swapping weapons is that it helps with the longer cooldown of the higher power abilities. Thief weapon abilities have no cooldown and use initiative instead. You're limiting yourself by only having 5 skills rather than 10 but still it offers the least disadvantage.
In RPG's I generally like to choose my favourite weapon/spell school/etc, that's why I like class based games to begin with. Like, I might want to make a warrior in GW2, and just because of my personal preference and because of some roleplaying, my warrior is a 2-handed axe wielding Norn, that's his main weapon of choise. Can I play him using mostly only the 2h axe and still be as effective as the other warrior next to me who uses 13 different weapons in a fight?
You should be able to use whatever weapon you like most of the time, but you'll be more effective if you're wiling to switch and adapt to different situations. I understand you lose a little identity being just a warrior and not a 2h axe warrior. Looking on the bright side though, since you can move stats from one weapon to another, you'll always have your favorite weapon model for each weapon. Which for me anyway will make switching less painful.
I really dont see the point of this system, you could just unlock the abilities and then build your own hotbars as you like, limiting only stuff based on if it's ranged or melee. I'd rather AOE with my 2h axe rather than having to swap to a hammer in middle of fight just to be able to AOE, why?
This is just a guess but i think the reason they didn't want you to be able to put your own skills with weapons, is because they want you to beable to adapt/react. So if a warrior with 2h hammer is coming you can prepare and have an idea what is coming.
GW2 seems mostly very good indeed, but I have a few concerns. One being the weapon swapping, I knew it was in the game, but I did not know that I absolutely must do that in order to be "competitive" in combat situations. Are you absolutely sure about this? I really do not wish to be required to adhd-weapon swap in order to do as much damage as the adhd-weapon swapping guy next to me. If it just adds to my utility then it's fine, but if I absolutely must do it in order to do as much damage as I can for example in a world boss event, then I'm very dissapointed, I hope someone can clarify a bit on this one?
In RPG's I generally like to choose my favourite weapon/spell school/etc, that's why I like class based games to begin with. Like, I might want to make a warrior in GW2, and just because of my personal preference and because of some roleplaying, my warrior is a 2-handed axe wielding Norn, that's his main weapon of choise. Can I play him using mostly only the 2h axe and still be as effective as the other warrior next to me who uses 13 different weapons in a fight?
I really dont see the point of this system, you could just unlock the abilities and then build your own hotbars as you like, limiting only stuff based on if it's ranged or melee. I'd rather AOE with my 2h axe rather than having to swap to a hammer in middle of fight just to be able to AOE, why?
All classes except for the elementalist and engineer have two weapon sets they have equipped at any time (can change outside combat), I don't know if you're being over the top about the guy next to you using 13 different weapons.
To answer your question about effectiveness with weapon switching, it's a little complicated and it depends on the situation, so bear with me.
For one thing, your active weapon will always have a spammable attack, so it's not like you HAVE to switch weapons. Even if you use all your other cooldowns you'll still be able to contribute.
That being said, there's no energy or mana (outside of a thief's Initiative) so cooldowns are what limit abilities. Cooldowns refresh when the weapon is put away, so to get more "output", in a lot of cases it will make sense to burn cooldowns, switch weapons and let them recharge in the background while you use your 2nd weapon's CDs.
But it also depends on the situation. For instance there might be a boss where you're DPSing from range with a Rifle, but you want to have a Warhorn on your 2nd weapon set just for the Swiftness buff. You're going to swap to that set, use it, then swap back. You're not going to decide to jump into melee range just so you can pop a few other cooldowns.
Doing damage is important, but it's not the only thing you have to do. Combat is a lot more fluid than in other games, so having cooldowns available "just in case" might be extremely important.
I think for most things like world DEs, you'll be fine doing whatever. If you want to be a hammer warrior, be a hammer warrior. For PVP and the hard explorable mode dungeons, you'll probably want to be comfortable with different tactics and be able to swap to them as the situation demands.
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it."-Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
Alright, having only 2 active sets in combat makes it better, or actually very close to what I had in mind, as of now I'm propably going warrior and focus mostly on rifle + some melee set. I was afraid I could, and should, swap weapons like crazy to be the man. This is all good if I can do more or less single target + aoe damage with just these two sets and not having to switch outside of combat that much.
I´ve searched a lot but never found satisfying answer - Ranger. What are the differences between mini pets and pets? That dog in demo was mini pet? Only for human race? Is there a fetch emote/command for dogs? If none above was mentioned I guess we will find out but I´m curious right now.
Comments
From neogaf - Jira
Last edited by Jira; 11-15-2011
badtothebones
12/5/2011
seems you gave a shout out to a copycat
Yup..that's why i edited my post.
My apologies OP,as i sated it's a great write up that should be stickyed.
Adding new DEs...yes, it's the 2nd part of the answer to this question. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyYe1JKdrdI&feature=player_detailpage#t=2813s
Btw, the question that follows the question I'm linking (the one about aggro) has a more updated answer than what Colin says in this video.
As far as adding new weapons, I'm not finding any interview where they've mentioned it. They may be wanting not make any promises about expansions before the core game is even out.
However, in GW: Nightfall they added scythes to go with the Dervish class and spears to go with the Paragon class (it also looks like daggers were added in Factions because of Assassins). GW2 is totally different in the way it handles weapons, and not to mention that some of the elements of these classes seem to be molded together into new GW2 classes like the Guardian. However, the Canthan and Elonian peoples seem to be well received and opening up those continents again would be very logical for expansion content. The Elonian army are called the Sunspears. So while I can't confirm it, all these things lead me to believe that there will be new weapons in expansions.
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it." -Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
Wow, just wow, awesome posting! Thanks. Already have been dying for GW2 to come out but this really puts things together and makes me completely okay for the wait.
--------------------------------
Currently Playing: Guild Wars 2 and Path of Exile
Quit: Eden Eternal, Wakfu, DDO, STO, DCUO, Sword 2, Atlantica Online, LOTRO, SWTOR, RIFT, Earthrise, FFXIV, RoM, Allods Online, GA,WAR,CO,V:SoH,POTBS,TR,COH/COV, WOW, DDO,AL, EQ, Eve, L2, AA, Mx0, SWG, SoR, AO, RFO, DAoC, and others.
www.twitter.com/mlwhitt
www.michaelwhitt.com
Excellent summary. You know, I knew 90% of the stuff in this post... But I have never seen it all in one place. Pulling it all together just makes me realize how amazingly huge GW2 is going to be, and how authentically unique it will be.
Ok, so I've wanted a game company to take an AAA game like UO or SWG and recreate those games but with one step forward. That is unrealistic, I understand that AAA developers are operating in a fear-economy and they are unwilling to take a risk on a sandbox game. This is really the next best thing... Arenanet has taken everything they know about the success of WoW and GW1 and used what they understand is the natural progression of themepark MMO's to take a large step forward in gameplay and content.
I am not vastly impressed, but I respect it and I recognize that this will be an excellent game. I will definitely be giving Anet my $$, and I hope for the best for them. The copy-cat direction of recent big-budget MMO's is dispicable and I have no respect for game companies that do not try to push the genre to the next level. Anet is not one of those companies.
The OP should get a job offer at Anet after writing all that! Must have taken him forever.
Play as your fav retro characters: cnd-online.net. My site: www.lysle.net. Blog: creatingaworld.blogspot.com.
As a side note to the community on this website... I think we need to lower our expectations of the Dynamic Event system. I think GW2 is going to be a great game, but not because of this system... It is more of a gimmick than anything, and a nice way to make quests feel slightly more meaningful because you can look around and see whats 'changed'. But in the end, very little will really change, and you'll be bored of it just like other quests.
By then you'll be enamored by all the other great things about GW2 that the OP has listed, hopefully, (if GW1 is any indication it is the combat gameplay and PvP), and we won't all be back at the forums complaining about another WoW copy.
...And that is what differentiates GW2's dynamic events from Rifts' Rifts and SWTOR's voice overs.
Play as your fav retro characters: cnd-online.net. My site: www.lysle.net. Blog: creatingaworld.blogspot.com.
You know... GW2 blows my mind.
When I look at games like Rift and SWTOR, and how little they actually accomplished in every single measureable way compared to Anet, I don't know how the devs can look themselves in the mirror. I think the same thing when I look at The Secret World, which will be a very different game and probably not as mainstream as GW2, but is still pushing forward the themepark genre. What a huge missed opportunity for Bioware. I'm not saying this as a SWTOR "hater" either. I wanted SWTOR to own; it just didn't.
All those things in GW2, and Buy-To-Play. It's insane. Whenever I read about this game, I start throwing money at the screen, but nothing happens.....
A sure sign that you are in an old, dying paradigm/mindset, is when you are scared of new ideas and new technology. Don't feel bad. The world is moving on without you, and you are welcome to yell "Get Off My Lawn!" all you want while it happens. You cannot, however, stop an idea whose time has come.
When i read it first, I actually thought it was direct from Anet hehe, good job op.
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D
You are looking at dynamic events the wrong way.
That they are dynamic is just a bonus which helps with immersion and replayability.
The real reason to be excited about dynamic events is the idea of a purely cooperative PVE world. This is a game where there's no competition over mobs, tagging, ground objects, nodes, anything. It's not even just the idea that you can stumble across an event and be able to do it with everybody else. It's that the game actually encourages random people to stick together. More mobs spawning means more xp and loot for everyone. It makes the DEs more chaotic and fun. Cross profession combos and everybody rez everybody gives strangers methods that they can help each other. DEs chain together so that people have a natural inclination to stay and work together and hopefully start talking. Instant teleportation and automentoring lets you quickly meet up with those people again.
I do also love that they're immersive, immediate, visual, repeatable, failable, and have at least a persistent effect on the world. But for me, the real reason to be excited about them is because they're hopefully going to fundamentally change how we view other players.
As far as boredom goes, people get bored of quests for a lot of reasons. They don't want to do them because the real game starts at the endgame. Or because they're an isolating, solo experience. Or because they've done them all before in their last toon. Or because the developer is lazy and the quests are repetitive. Or because the only ones you can do are dailies. Or because the combat is always 1,2,3,4,5 dead. Not to drag this post out, but you can make an argument that ArenaNet is at least trying to make none of these things apply to GW2. That's another reason to be excited.
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it." -Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
Gotta give props to the OP for this article. Its very good. My guild is waiting for this game and I linked this article to feed their addiction for a little while; they loved it.
I wasn't really interested in GW2, but now I am! Just a couple of questions I couldn't find on wiki and official site.
1- I read somewhere here that there won't be region or ip block, but couldn't find at the official site/forum. Is that true?
2- Do you think they'll ship the box here to South America players?
Sorry if those questions have been done before, I just couldn't find an answer.
Btw, going to try GW1 later
Thanks for the sum up dude.It's really amazing.
Dynamic events look awesome.Lets hope everything they say works as intended.
If you can obtain GW1 in South America then I am sure they will ship GW2 to you. However I don't think there were any SA servers for GW1 (I could be wrong) so you may have to play on NA servers.
Other than that I cannot find any other information for you at this time.
GW1 let you switch between different territories but there were some limitations it seems. http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Territory GW2 is different though because it's an MMORPG not a CORPG so which server you're on matters for WvW PVP. I don't think we know yet how they're going to do it.
I did remember this question from the ComicCon panel. A guy asks if there will be support for Latin American Spanish as opposed to European Spanish. The answer is that it's not finalized yet but Latin America is a big emerging market and that they're "seriously looking at what they can do to support that." http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=wyYe1JKdrdI#t=2674s
So still too early to tell as far as I know, but the signs are very positive.
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it." -Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
While this is a very informative write-up I can't help but laugh at the title, it sounds like I'm joining a cult
Takin my silly hat off...
Great job OP, I am not a GW fan, but I do respect those of you who are.
I hope it's the game you all been waiting for!!!
Thank you for the replies! Just a matter of time, it seems..
Good job Chelmo
great to see it here at mmorpg.com --- nice work
EQ2 fan sites
First of all, very nice job OP, thank you
GW2 seems mostly very good indeed, but I have a few concerns. One being the weapon swapping, I knew it was in the game, but I did not know that I absolutely must do that in order to be "competitive" in combat situations. Are you absolutely sure about this? I really do not wish to be required to adhd-weapon swap in order to do as much damage as the adhd-weapon swapping guy next to me. If it just adds to my utility then it's fine, but if I absolutely must do it in order to do as much damage as I can for example in a world boss event, then I'm very dissapointed, I hope someone can clarify a bit on this one?
In RPG's I generally like to choose my favourite weapon/spell school/etc, that's why I like class based games to begin with. Like, I might want to make a warrior in GW2, and just because of my personal preference and because of some roleplaying, my warrior is a 2-handed axe wielding Norn, that's his main weapon of choise. Can I play him using mostly only the 2h axe and still be as effective as the other warrior next to me who uses 13 different weapons in a fight?
I really dont see the point of this system, you could just unlock the abilities and then build your own hotbars as you like, limiting only stuff based on if it's ranged or melee. I'd rather AOE with my 2h axe rather than having to swap to a hammer in middle of fight just to be able to AOE, why?
Very nice work OP. Reading through it, I am reminded of all the things I have already forgotten about the game. I still found some tidbits that I wasn't aware of and the furnace is stoked yet again. Sticky this please.
RIP Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan and Paul Gray.
All classes except for the elementalist and engineer have two weapon sets they have equipped at any time (can change outside combat), I don't know if you're being over the top about the guy next to you using 13 different weapons.
To answer your question about effectiveness with weapon switching, it's a little complicated and it depends on the situation, so bear with me.
For one thing, your active weapon will always have a spammable attack, so it's not like you HAVE to switch weapons. Even if you use all your other cooldowns you'll still be able to contribute.
That being said, there's no energy or mana (outside of a thief's Initiative) so cooldowns are what limit abilities. Cooldowns refresh when the weapon is put away, so to get more "output", in a lot of cases it will make sense to burn cooldowns, switch weapons and let them recharge in the background while you use your 2nd weapon's CDs.
But it also depends on the situation. For instance there might be a boss where you're DPSing from range with a Rifle, but you want to have a Warhorn on your 2nd weapon set just for the Swiftness buff. You're going to swap to that set, use it, then swap back. You're not going to decide to jump into melee range just so you can pop a few other cooldowns.
Doing damage is important, but it's not the only thing you have to do. Combat is a lot more fluid than in other games, so having cooldowns available "just in case" might be extremely important.
I think for most things like world DEs, you'll be fine doing whatever. If you want to be a hammer warrior, be a hammer warrior. For PVP and the hard explorable mode dungeons, you'll probably want to be comfortable with different tactics and be able to swap to them as the situation demands.
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it." -Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
Alright, having only 2 active sets in combat makes it better, or actually very close to what I had in mind, as of now I'm propably going warrior and focus mostly on rifle + some melee set. I was afraid I could, and should, swap weapons like crazy to be the man. This is all good if I can do more or less single target + aoe damage with just these two sets and not having to switch outside of combat that much.
Thanks for the replies.
I´ve searched a lot but never found satisfying answer - Ranger. What are the differences between mini pets and pets? That dog in demo was mini pet? Only for human race? Is there a fetch emote/command for dogs? If none above was mentioned I guess we will find out but I´m curious right now.