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[Column] Guild Wars 2: MMO Power

SBFordSBFord Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
in News & Features Discussion

The newly added Super Adventure Box has been a big hit with Guild Wars 2 players. In this week's column, we've got a few thoughts to share about our experiences in the SAB. See what we've got to say before telling us what you think of the Super Adventure Box in the comments.

For some new players to Super Adventure Box, the enemies can seem a little tricky.  If you’ve ever played an old game from the eighties, you’ll recognize that these enemies are designed to follow a basic attack pattern.  I see several players get taken out by the Super Spiders.  Their ability to breakdance has allowed them to go into an awesome spinning attack, causing serious damage to players unfortunate enough to be in its path.  If you see a Super Spider getting ready to attack, take a few steps back and wait for him to spin himself dizzy.  While he takes a moment to recover, go in and strike him down!

Read more of David North's Guild Wars 2: MMO Power!

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Prepare yourself for adventure!


¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 


Comments

  • jtcgsjtcgs Member Posts: 1,777
    I find it ironic that an 8-bit monthly update beats out virtually every single update every MMO has had in over 10 years...this is what thinking outside the box is like, someone point this out to the rest of the MMO companies please because the genre is stale and looks to remain so by more than a few of the western MMOs in the works.

    “I hope we shall crush...in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country." ~Thomes Jefferson

  • PurutzilPurutzil Member UncommonPosts: 3,048

    All I got to say is its kind of funny that of all the updates brought forth to draw attention, the one that ends up doing this best is a April Fools joke. A pretty cool joke mind you, one even as someone not huge on GW2 is actually impressed by, but a joke none the less. It actually makes me chuckle a bit. 

  • TekaelonTekaelon Member UncommonPosts: 604
    SAB is very cool, but there are other things I'd like to see added to the world.
  • BattlerockBattlerock Member CommonPosts: 1,393
    Its working, I decided to play again because of this awesomeness. So this outside the box stuff, , yeah its working. Thank you Gw2 team
  • adam_noxadam_nox Member UncommonPosts: 2,148
    very immersive and allows me to roleplay.  I feel like gw2 is finally the sandbox we all deserve.
  • Eir_SEir_S Member UncommonPosts: 4,440
    It's a great feature and this is a great article.  Both remind me of my gaming days as a kid, when tips on how to beat a boss were this simple but rewarding.  No enrage timers, no leet gear, just strategy.  Those freaking monkeys though... maaaan...
  • TelondarielTelondariel Member Posts: 1,001
    Originally posted by adam_nox
    very immersive and allows me to roleplay.  I feel like gw2 is finally the sandbox we all deserve.

    I'm sensing deep sarcasm, padawan.

     

    As far as the SAB is concerned, I think the GW2 team did a great job.  It really is well done.

     

    That said, its all about jumping puzzles which aren't my thing at all.  So, I played it for about 10 minutes and that was it. 

     

    One point of criticism I have regarding the SAB is its relevance to GW2.  It seems that the vision of what goes into the game is a little scattered.  By that, I mean its a high fantasy setting and the inclusion of a homage to 80's retro gaming doesn't really fit.  Like the boxing gloves, aviator sunglasses, the hoodies, and the plushie backpacks.

    image
  • DiemosDiemos Member Posts: 129
    Originally posted by Telondariel
    Originally posted by adam_nox
    very immersive and allows me to roleplay.  I feel like gw2 is finally the sandbox we all deserve.

    I'm sensing deep sarcasm, padawan.

     

    As far as the SAB is concerned, I think the GW2 team did a great job.  It really is well done.

     

    That said, its all about jumping puzzles which aren't my thing at all.  So, I played it for about 10 minutes and that was it. 

     

    One point of criticism I have regarding the SAB is its relevance to GW2.  It seems that the vision of what goes into the game is a little scattered.  By that, I mean its a high fantasy setting and the inclusion of a homage to 80's retro gaming doesn't really fit.  Like the boxing gloves, aviator sunglasses, the hoodies, and the plushie backpacks.

    I've had a lot of fun with the addition to the SAB. Why is it such a problem to have some fun in a game? If it breaks the immersion too much you could..i dont know ignore it...

    image

    [PvX]Tempest - Check us out

  • aesperusaesperus Member UncommonPosts: 5,135
    Originally posted by adam_nox
    very immersive and allows me to roleplay.  I feel like gw2 is finally the sandbox we all deserve.

    bitter much?

    Don't ever recall this game claiming to be a sandox.

  • bcbullybcbully Member EpicPosts: 11,843
    Originally posted by Telondariel
    Originally posted by adam_nox
    very immersive and allows me to roleplay.  I feel like gw2 is finally the sandbox we all deserve.

    I'm sensing deep sarcasm, padawan.

     

    As far as the SAB is concerned, I think the GW2 team did a great job.  It really is well done.

     

    That said, its all about jumping puzzles which aren't my thing at all.  So, I played it for about 10 minutes and that was it. 

     

    One point of criticism I have regarding the SAB is its relevance to GW2.  It seems that the vision of what goes into the game is a little scattered.  By that, I mean its a high fantasy setting and the inclusion of a homage to 80's retro gaming doesn't really fit.  Like the boxing gloves, aviator sunglasses, the hoodies, and the plushie backpacks.

    Thought the same thing when I first saw the boxing gloves. It was pretty jarring, mood breaking. Maybe it's lightning the mood to others

     

    As far as this retro thing, for give me but it reminds me of my 9 year old begging me to buy super mario bros for his wii-u (for 60$). I'm like you have a new system play new games!

     

    that's just me though. It seems people are enjoying it.

     
  • zastrophzastroph Member Posts: 242
    imo it is a waste of time, I played this gfx style type when it was new and have no desire to go backwards. Also, on entering solo with a mesmer, I had no way to fight any thing as my usual clones were gone! Or am I not suposed to be fighting anything, I don't know because the only writting is some asian stuff that I have no hope of reading! Very much an April 1st thing which is now over!
  • anemoanemo Member RarePosts: 1,903
    Originally posted by zastroph
    imo it is a waste of time, I played this gfx style type when it was new and have no desire to go backwards. Also, on entering solo with a mesmer, I had no way to fight any thing as my usual clones were gone! Or am I not suposed to be fighting anything, I don't know because the only writting is some asian stuff that I have no hope of reading! Very much an April 1st thing which is now over!

    Writing is in new ascaloni.

    Every character is the same, in the sense of having abilities removed.   Even my Gaurdian doesn't have my F1/2/3 abilities.

    Practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes permanent.

    "At one point technology meant making tech that could get to the moon, now it means making tech that could get you a taxi."

  • twruletwrule Member Posts: 1,251
    Originally posted by bcbully
    Originally posted by Telondariel
    Originally posted by adam_nox
    very immersive and allows me to roleplay.  I feel like gw2 is finally the sandbox we all deserve.

    I'm sensing deep sarcasm, padawan.

     

    As far as the SAB is concerned, I think the GW2 team did a great job.  It really is well done.

     

    That said, its all about jumping puzzles which aren't my thing at all.  So, I played it for about 10 minutes and that was it. 

     

    One point of criticism I have regarding the SAB is its relevance to GW2.  It seems that the vision of what goes into the game is a little scattered.  By that, I mean its a high fantasy setting and the inclusion of a homage to 80's retro gaming doesn't really fit.  Like the boxing gloves, aviator sunglasses, the hoodies, and the plushie backpacks.

    Thought the same thing when I first saw the boxing gloves. It was pretty jarring, mood breaking. Maybe it's lightning the mood to others

     

    As far as this retro thing, for give me but it reminds me of my 9 year old begging me to buy super mario bros for his wii-u (for 60$). I'm like you have a new system play new games!

     

    that's just me though. It seems people are enjoying it.

     

    I don't see how any of the wacky things the devs put in are out of place; GW2 has been a very self-aware game since day one (in that it pays only so much mind to the fourth wall). The NPCs all speak contemporary casual dialects, the writing is filled with jokes, many of which are references to real-world things, the UI is always lighting up informing you of what's going on around you. As much as Anet talks about living story and all that, immersion has taken a backseat to fun-factor I think, and it works well for the game. For the most part, it's been tastefully done so far (in contrast to WoW's way of 4th wall-breaking which amounts to constantly shoving internet meme culture down players' throats). I'd enjoy an immesive sandbox as much as the next guy, but GW2 does what it does (fun, accessible, casual play) quite well.

    That said, though I did enjoy SAB a good bit, and I actually do really like the jumping puzzles, the fact that there are just so many (jumping puzzles) in the game and that more are added for each event kind of adds its own layer of unintentional irony. They are doing a lot more with a feature that has been in MMOs for years as something superfluous (the ability to jump), and actually turning it into a near legitimate additional way to interact with the world; yet, in doing so, and the fact that the implementation still feels a bit artificial (in that there are clear 'jumping puzzles' that can be separated out from the rest of the world), it just draws attention to the need for greater levels (and more ways) of interactability with the world for players to be capable of in an ideal mmo (maybe that mythical immersive sandbox).

     
  • goemoegoemoe Member UncommonPosts: 288
    For me SAB is wasted dev time. Sorry to see it happen. I do like GW2 very much though. Hopefully they don't waste dev time again. :/
  • JimmyYOJimmyYO Member UncommonPosts: 519
    Originally posted by jtcgs
    I find it ironic that an 8-bit monthly update beats out virtually every single update every MMO has had in over 10 years...this is what thinking outside the box is like, someone point this out to the rest of the MMO companies please because the genre is stale and looks to remain so by more than a few of the western MMOs in the works.

    Speaks of much wisdom

  • SnigerknudSnigerknud Member UncommonPosts: 60
    Why did I sell out my C64 stuff 25 years ago :( need it now ;P
  • ScotScot Member LegendaryPosts: 24,273
    This was a breath of fresh air, which is why it has gone down so well. I applaud GW2 for thinking outside the box and giving something new to MMO's. I think some of this has been done before to a certain extent, but never in a mainstream MMO. GW2 still needs to have a real end game, but from this you can see they have their thinking hats on.
  • bookworm438bookworm438 Member Posts: 647
    Originally posted by jtcgs
    I find it ironic that an 8-bit monthly update beats out virtually every single update every MMO has had in over 10 years...this is what thinking outside the box is like, someone point this out to the rest of the MMO companies please because the genre is stale and looks to remain so by more than a few of the western MMOs in the works.

    More like inside the box XD

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