Fansite Friday/GWOnline

Fansite: GWOnline

Date: 23 July 2004

Number: 7

Q&A

Question: During E3 we saw two PvP areas, the Drascir Tombs and the Arena. During the alpha we've seen the inclusion of the Coastal Guilds map. All three of these areas provide unique PvP gameplay styles, but what other areas or different PvP gameplay can we expect to see in the initial release? i.e. Free-For-All battles, guild hall assaults, king of the hill style matches which are constantly open for a player to drop into, etc.?

Answer: We’ll be offering a wide variety of gameplay choices that cater to all kinds of players. Guild Hall assault style of tournament play is offered in Coastal Guilds. Over time, those in the alpha test and those who join upcoming Guild Wars events will see this sort of PvP area become more elaborate with the addition of new elements that directly influence gameplay, such as hirable support troops or mercenaries, guild hall layout upgrades that aid in strategy, and more.

We offer King of the Hill-style maps through our existing Tournament structure. Our Tournament system allows you or your guild to pop into competitive matches and rise through the levels with each victory. At this point we do not have a free-for-all map planned for the initial release, but that is certainly something we will consider during development and which we will weigh as a possible inclusion in a subsequent chapter of Guild Wars.

There are a lot of complicated issues involved with the concept of drop-in missions. This topic has been discussed a lot amongst the design team, and many of us, staff members and alpha testers alike, have shared thoughts on the matter. At this point, I believe that we will not include a drop-in option. One concern that I can see is that such an option could totally alter the core way in which the game is played. After all, if people can drop in and out, your opponent can change completely just as your team is about to claim victory.

The tournament includes several different game types as the teams advance. This will ensure that the “best of the best” deserve their position in the Hall of Heroes. And because of the global nature of the tournament, the victor of that final match won’t be the winner of this realm, or that shard, or such-and-such region, or a single instance of a hill. In Guild Wars, a single team will be able to claim its title as the world champion. For as long as they can hold it, that is. ;)

Question: Guild Wars features a storyline that unfolds as players participate in cooperative PvM missions. Is there a solid number that you can give for the number of missions we can expect to see in the initial release? Once players finish these missions and reach their maximum level, what content can they expect to keep them occupied within the game until the expansion if they aren't interested in the PvP gameplay and continuing to acquire skills/item hunt?

Answer: At this point, the final number of missions has not yet been nailed down. But I would love to share some interesting information about the way Guild Wars missions are conceived that I learned when talking to our writer, Jess Lebow. Each mission will be like a braided novel. There will be one over-arcing objective, but there will also be several other “acts” in each mission. Let me make up a completely random example: Say there is a mission for which the main objective is to take a very important mage from one village through an uncharted mountain pass to a second village. Achieving this end is not as simple as it sounds, for it’s not a matter of traveling from A to Point B, killing some monsters along the way, and if you get there, you win. It might play a lot more like this:

You begin the mission in a wilderness area and learn that in order to get to the starting village, you will need to overcome a band of marauding monsters who are holding your potential guide hostage. If you overcome the monsters and free the guide (thus completing the first act), he will then lead you towards the starting village, where you are to meet your VIM (Very Important Mage).

But as you approach the Mage’s village, you find that it, too, is under attack by another group of monsters. So the second act of the mission involves this battle, yet the outcome may not revolve around a straight human vs. monster face-off. The winning element of Act 2 could be saving a certain number of townsfolk, or it may be picking up a Letter of Safe Passage from one of those townsfolk, or something of that nature. Upon the successful completion of Act 2, you head off with your VIM and your guide, engaging in combat along the way.

For Act 3, perhaps you meet a guard at a bridge who says “None shall pass!” Well, ok, perhaps he tells you that the residents of the his village are skeptical of outsiders and that in order gain permission to cross the bridge you need to bring him an object that proves your honest intentions, perhaps a healing herb harvested only in a monster-ridden valley, or a key that is the death drop of a specific boss monster. It will be only the completion of this third act, and then the safe delivery of the Mage to the village, that makes you the winner of the mission.

Oh, and did I mention there are secret side quests, as well? :-)

In answering the question about what will keep players interested in Guild Wars aside from item acquisition, skill growth, and PvP play, I’m sure you’ll agree that the depth of the missions, and the opportunity to experience different outcomes depending on choices that you make as a player, will enhance and extend what you do in the game. In addition, there will be a large number of hunting grounds that provide adventure either as a single player or as the member of a group. And lastly, while we will be releasing new chapters every six to nine months, we will be adding a substantial amount of content between those releases. Some of that new content is discussed in the next answer.

Question: I've heard word that ArenaNet will use the streaming technology they developed to add in-game events to the Guild Wars world. How often can we expect to see events, will they be only a yearly occurrence or will we possibly see them as often as each week? Will these be large events that span say a weekend which the whole community will be able to participate in, i.e. a massive Charr invasion on Kyhlo, or events lasting say one Friday night geared more towards small groups of 1-8 players?

Answer: Oh, you can count on seeing additions on a pretty frequent basis! The beauty of streaming technology is that it supports every level of game development, from the core design to bug fixes to gameplay improvements to the addition of new content. It doesn’t just support corrective issues, such as bug fixes or the closing of an exploit. It also plays a role in rolling out new content for the players, where we will add a whole new mission, a different kind of arena, a special item, or a new hunting ground. And it applies to short-term matters, as well.

One of the questions I asked a few years ago was, “Will the technology of Guild Wars make it possible for us to offer lots of holiday content?” You see, I love Halloween, and Christmas, and just about every other holiday you can name. What if, for instance, we decide to populate Khylo with groundhogs on Groundhog Day? Imagine winter snow in Ascalon! For some games, that would be a horrendous process – it might take a large team a full month to pull off such a special event, because their game design would require the updating of millions of files. For us, such an update won’t require a major patch or an enormous download; it won’t require a huge team to produce it. As we have shown with seasonal events in our alpha, a few team members can get together and in a reasonable amount of time add art and programming that turns the game world into a whole new experience.

Will we have special events? Yes! Beyond the ongoing world tournament and the numerous missions and hunting grounds, Guild Wars will have seasonal events, major social functions, ladder championships, guild-related special occasions, and of course extraordinary in-game events such as the Stone Summit Invasion that players experienced during E3. After all, we’re committed to making Guild Wars a compelling game and we will be expanding the story in exciting ways. With our technology, fulfilling that promise will be a very attainable goal.

Thanks very much to GWOnline.net for the discussion!