Fansite Friday/Mondes Persistants

Fansite:  Mondes Persistants - Guild Wars

Date:  30 July 2004

Number:  8

url:  http://gw.mondespersistants.com/?article=50 (moved from original link)

Q&A
Question: Concerning the crafting, we do know that it will be possible to upgrade items, yet have you thought of the possibility to craft items with precious stones to reinforce them (i.e. +5 resistance to fire)? Or are there going to be such elements as rings, amulets and so on, such as in Diablo, which shall play an equivalent role in Guild Wars?

Answer: Yes, Guild Wars has items that give armor the types of improvements that you mention; they are called "Upgrade Components." Let me give you some examples. My elementalist acquired a Rune of Lesser Fire Magic as the result of salvaging a rare item. Salvaging items does not always result in a rune but instead often gives you crafting items that are a bit more common. In this instance, though, I was lucky enough to salvage the rune, and so I visited the crafter in town and upgraded the elementalist's robe (armor). Wearing the upgraded robe, she now does greater fire damage when casting spells involving that element.

My ranger isn't able to use a Rune of Fire Magic in her armor, but there is another Rune designed specifically for that profession: The Rune of Marksmanship. I've not had the good fortune of acquiring that rune yet, but when she acquires it, she'll have a nice boost to her marksmanship. On the other hand, my ranger does have two runes that are useful to members of any profession: The Rune of Lesser Vigor and the Rune of Vigor. I upgraded her present armor with the Rune of Lesser Vigor, and am saving the better rune until I get a higher level of armor in which to place it. What these particular runes do for characters of any profession is increase their maximum health so that they are heartier in battle.

There will be many upgrade components for just about every type of item in Guild Wars. In addition to customizing weapons in order to increase damage or to improve accuracy or range, you will find that special effect upgrades may be added to items, as well. So the terrific battle hammer that you get as a monster drop may be made even better by upgrading it so that it changes from doing standard damage to lightning-enhanced damage.

As to other kinds of jewelry, I am not sure if we will have other types such as amulets. But rings are definitely an essential element in Guild Wars, for the entire skill system is built upon Skill Rings. The very reason that you have 8 skills to take into battle is based on the fact that, yes, you have 8 fingers. :)

Question: Concerning the in-game communications, besides general, mission and guild channels, will it be possible to create private channels such as a francophone channel for example? Could you elaborate on the in-game communications system?

Answer: You will have many options for language choices in Guild Wars. The matter of in-game communication is very relevant to us, because we already are, even in alpha state, an international game with participants from around the world. We're keenly aware that a game needs to offer lots of opportunities for social interaction. By the time Guild Wars is released, you will have as many as a dozen different worlds from which you can choose. This means that when you join Guild Wars, you will be able to select your game world, just as our alpha testers presently are able to select either the "English World" or "Korean World." Those joining the world can then select a language to use within the world, and their UI will appear in their chosen language. This means that even if you do not speak a certain language, you would still be able to communicate with those in the world who do speak your language. For instance, I could visit the French or German or Korean World and look for other English-speakers with whom to party. Or I could learn a new language by partying with those who speak that language. :-)

As you probably know, we don't really have traditional chat channels in Guild Wars. The many areas for social interaction include towns, outposts, guild halls and hunting grounds. You can head to your Guild Hall to chat with your fellow guild members or strategize an upcoming PvP match. You go to a town, the centerpiece of each region, where you might visit with others, do upgrades, enjoy a bit of shopping or trading, and so forth. Or, you can visit a Hunting Ground, alone or with friends, to explore the world. And of course if it's a mission you desire, you'll click an outpost as your destination and there you will find other people with whom you can undertake that specific mission. With your ability to choose your game world, with the instanced nature of guild halls, missions, and hunting grounds, and with your choice of the in-game UI language, I am confident that yes, Francophones will have the option of being in a world in which the primary language is French.

Question: How does a character evolve through time? Will there be specific moments in a character's profession, such as a second profession or when he reaches a maximum level?

Answer: Guild Wars characters evolve over time through an experience point leveling system. With the system, your character acquires a larger number of skills and abilities that, while they do not make the character strictly more powerful, do give you more strategic options. You get experience points primarily by the successful completion of in-game missions and by hunting in the hunting grounds. Your character will level up after you have gotten a certain number of experience points. When you reach the next level, you can usually obtain a new skill, because each level will give you a skill point, and if you have a skill gem which you've gotten as the result of a monster kill or which you've purchased or traded for, you can visit your ringcrafter to make a skill ring.

Yes, we do have a specific moment where a character reaches maximum level; we call it "ascension." The rate of ascension in Guild Wars will probably be faster than what you've experienced in other games. At that point, you'll be able to play in the tournament areas and, of course, continue to have access to missions and hunting grounds.

During the various stages of the Guild Wars Alpha Test, we've seen many different kinds and configurations of character levels. We started with single-profession characters. After some months, we were able to learn a second profession at the maximum character level. So the ranger that I had started at the beginning was able to learn a second profession and become a ranger/monk. For the E3 for Everyone world event, all characters were set at Level 15 and each of them had dual professions from the outset. At the present time in the alpha test, you can start your character at Level 1, Level 5, Level 15, or Level 20, and each of your characters is created from the outset with two professions.

As to what will happen in Guild Wars upon release, it is very likely that you will be able to make a dual-profession character either during character creation (that is, level 1) or you will be able to acquire the second profession quite early in the game. Our dual professions are getting a lot of positive feedback, and we're enjoying adding the skills and abilities to give them ever greater depth and variety. We're looking forward to everyone having a chance to experience Guild Wars in the near future.

Merci beaucoup to Mondes Persistants for the great questions!