MMO Wars

The ideal in an MMO is still being researched. No one has yet achieved it and in fact, no one knows exactly what it looks it. MMOs started off in possibly the most unideal form, when they took standard RPG tropes of the 80s and ducktaped a modem onto them. Since then developers have been trying to figure out how a large number of players can share their experiences simultaneously in a single world.

I'll preface this by saying that I'm not a big MMO player. I get my knowledge via proxy from a person who has played a large number of them. My observations are often not personal, but I know enough from playing World of Warcraft to have an idea of where I'd like to see MMOs go.

That's why when I read on information for Guild Wars 2, I was intrigued. It seemed to have a lot of really good ideas on how to approach combat, classes, and PVE, and it was different and refreshing enough on paper from what I knew from playing WoW that I wanted to know more.

Then the game fell off my radar. A year passed, the beta came and went, and I didn't follow it. The game released, and suddenly all the forums and news sites I visit were lit up with praise for the game, and I was interested again. A few weeks after the game launched, and I had my own copy of it, and it was off I go on my adventure.

One evening I was scurrying about exploring the sights when my sister walked in, and asked me what I was playing. A lot of people might take that as a starting pistol to begin gushing about all the amazing features on offer, but I found myself at a loss for words. "Um, well, you can quest, and there's stuff you can craft, and...a bunch of other things." How do you describe a new MMO to a person who's hardly played one? Where do you begin? I realized that it's almost impossible to talk about Guild Wars 2 without comparing it to other MMOs.

Take WoW as a baseline. Add heaping helpings of Warhammer Online, aspects of the original Guild Wars, and even single player RPGs like Skyrim. Mix it in a bowl, pour it in a baking sheet, cook for five years, and then decorate it with amazing art and music. That's more or less a blurb description of what the game is, but it's only a start. To leave it at that would be a disservice to the level of execution and innovation that has been achieved here.

For starters, it breaks the fundamental cycle of nearly all major MMOs. Especially if you're into end-game content, you'll be familiar with the typical grind that MMOs turn into after you've been playing them for a while. Kill enemies based on the stats/numbers of your character. Get better gear so that you can kill enemies based on higher stats/numbers. Repeat ad nauseum.

GW2 dismantles this notion by making gear largely relative. Your character is really only as good as your ability to time dodges and skills at just the right moment, and to adapt and be aware of your situation in a fight. This also means that sometimes your character's level is also relative, or even your class. You level so you can take part in grander and more exciting events. You get gear so you can look more awesome. All occupations in the game can deal at least some reasonable damage, and provide some sort of heal for themselves. No one is completely helpless, and no one is invincible. All classes can fulfill multiple roles in a group, which means your success is more dependent on the skill of the players and having enough of them.

What this means is that all group events are inviting for all players. Anyone can jump in, playing their class exactly how they want. There isn't much in the way of an ideal spec, there aren't any rigid guidelines for behavior, and the game in general is more flexible in how it allows players to approach it than pretty much any MMORPG to date.

This open and inviting nature is crucial to the entire structure of the game. For the first time ever, an MMO has come along that has prioritized players getting along and never hindering each other. This is HUGE. No one can steal a quest item from you, or take credit for a kill from you, or crafting materials found in the world, or just about anything. The result is that instead of lamenting the presence of other players in an area you're trying to quest in, you appreciate them. It sponsors an extremely helpful and courteous community. If you're downed, a somewhat frequent occurrence in which you're immobilized and close to death, often times players will go out of the way to fight enemies off of you and revive you. And in a karma sort of way, this encourages you to do the same for others. In many ways you're most uncomfortable when you're alone in the game. This is coming from someone who used to describe himself as a loner.

GW2 also works this into its questing system. Quests in general are extremely different from quests in more traditional games. They're tied to the environment instead of a quest-giver, which means as soon as you enter a questing area, you can immediately begin work on it. This eliminates killing tons of mobs and feeling frustrated when you realize it was part of a quest you hadn't yet picked up. It also eliminates chore lists. You get a bar that fills up as you progress through a quest, and a description that gives you a few options for completing it. You can choose to do all of the tasks in a quest, or you can focus on just one or two of them. There are no prescribed numbers, no checklist, just some open-ended suggestions that allow you to finish things however you want to. When you're done, you get experience, money, and karma points automatically. You only interact with a quest-giver if you want to turn in karma points for rewards, or if you need to hand in relevant quest items.

But those are actually somewhat infrequent. The bulk of the activities in PVE come from world events. These require people to band together to complete a quest, and while the solo quests can also benefit from the help of passersby, world events feature group participation as centerpieces. When it's over, your participation level is rated via bronze, silver, or gold medals, and your level of reward adjusts accordingly. No one can hog all the glory, and there's no fighting over who-gets-what.

World events can be credited to Warhammer Online for first employing them on a large scale. WAR, as it is abbreviated, had a lot of great ideas during its development, and was another one of those MMOs that grabbed my attention leading up to release. Unfortunately it hardly implemented half of them, and fell well short in its execution. GW2 thankfully takes many of those ideas that might have otherwise been forgotten, and makes them work.

One of those is Realm vs Realm, which GW2 implements as World vs World, on a smaller scale but still very effectively. WAR's core idea was two warring factions that battled it out in the game world itself, incorporating actual camps and cities that were used in PVE questing as capture points. This created very real stakes in the war as the losing faction would have a hard time questing, and PVP fighting was not only mandatory, but necessary. GW2 takes this large-scale fighting out of the game world, but gives it its own very large instanced environment to play out in. It also removes the idea of opposing factions, rather using WvW to pit servers against each other irrespective of race. This creates almost a sporting event out of large-scale PVP warfare. Obviously the stakes are then reduced, but it bypasses the harmful aspects that the losing side would have to endure in favor of minor added perks for whomever achieves dominance.

PVP in general simply doesn't exist in the game world. This can be a boon for PVE fans, but PVP fans aren't left out. In addition to WvW, there's also instanced PVP involving either random groups of players, or in tournament mode involving guilds. There's plenty of options for those who want to pit their skills (which has more weight in GW2 anyway) against others, but also creates a very harmonious environment in the game world for those who would rather just get along with everybody.

GW2 in general tries to appeal to players of all sorts, and there's no doubt that it directly targets the mainstream market that WoW has retained a stranglehold on for several years now. It's a very bold move, and while it may have been safer to do as most others have by trying to simply carve out a small niche for themselves with whoever WoW leaves behind, it also results in a game with many appealing and convenient features, and a very ambitious amount of content to delve into.

Crucial to the success of any WoW contender is solid execution and a lot of polish from the very beginning, which GW2 does. Competing against an entrenched MMO with eight years of added content and refining is no easy task, and no one expects the same out of a brand new game. While MMOs up until WoW were forgiven for a lot of bugs and flaws, the standards players have has been raised. GW2 has pulled off their launch very well, but it's not without its faults.

I haven't played many of the classes, but at this point I'm getting a pretty good grasp of the Ranger class in the game. In general this is the closest another MMO has come to WoW's Hunter class, but there's still a lot of things I miss. The sheer variety of animals you can choose from in the Blizzard game is insurmountable, and while GW2 does better than most at giving you more than a handful of choices, often they come down to different texture skins and generic-looking zoo exhibits. Your pets will also drain their health with very little effort, and although the game lets you swap out a second pet at any moment, you can't expect him to take on three or more mobs at once. This means I find myself less endeared to my pets, treating them more as tools than companions, but this does emphasize your own skills as opposed to relying on an AI creature to manage sticky situations.
 

I also miss some of the things WoW has done to make your role in the world feel important. Through their phasing system, they've removed the repetitive, inconsequential drudgery of certain quests, and incorporated real and often major changes to the environment that are tied to your actions in the story. Some of the things you do in GW2 are permanent, but never to that degree, and that's something I think could be improved on.

But this isn't supposed to be a review of the game, and what I'd rather focus on is its competitive standings in a well-saturated market. Newcomers may find that GW2's art is as much an asset for standing out in the crowd as its gameplay. Art is a huge component of the game, and is actually intertwined with the gameplay itself. So much of GW2 centers around exploration of the environments. You are teased with various symbols on the map representing points of interest, places to earn skill points, waypoints, and vistas (which treat you to sweeping views of the scenery). Finding these locations gives you experience points, and you get bonuses if you get all of them in a zone. The game also hides jumping puzzles and other fun details in the environment, and it's all there to encourage players not to bull-rush their way through, but to be curious and take their time feeling around. None of this would work without the inspired artistry that's on display.

Waypoints allow for instant travel throughout Tyria, and are an example of how the game tries to streamline the experience for mainstream players. Even veterans might find it's hard to go back after becoming accustomed to them. Crafting is also made very convenient, with immediate access to your bank for retrieving supplies you may have stored away, and a creation process that gets faster and faster with each successive item. The mailing system skips mailboxes altogether, allowing you to send and receive letters and items instantly wherever you are. The auction system works similarly, letting you to place items up for sale and make purchases by simply opening up a menu. You only have to interact with an auctioneer (called Traders) when you want to pick up profits or purchased items, and even that is painless thanks to the network of waypoints.

The game does a lot to try to foster an inviting playfield for both experienced and casual gamers, but one of the biggest attacks against MMO incumbents is the abolishing of monthly fees. This creates an interesting stir in the market, but also brings up some questions. While many will say that F2P is the future, it's hard to tell if it's sustainable for massive games like a full-fledged MMORPG. MMOs are in constant development, and require the most in terms of cost and maintenance. It remains to be seen if GW2 can withstand millions of players who aren't paying for their usage. Another major unknown is how they approach the idea of expansion packs, as it's doubtful they'll be able to afford the robustness of Warcraft's additions. How they choose to milk the players will play a key role in the game's survivability.
 

In general, I'm enjoying the game immensely. My sister now counts herself among the game's growing population. I see the changes the it makes to the tired formula as indispensable -- game-changing even. Whether GW2 lasts the test of time or not, its influence will be felt in MMOs of the future. WoW started off following the established conventions, and later blazed ahead with new innovations. Guild Wars 2 feels very similar.