I did not play during the first open beta.
I resisted the temptation and spent the weekend instead doing other
things. YES! Those things other I do on the weekends that
are NOT playing the beta… like… watching other people stream themselves playing
the beta. *sigh* Yah… there’s the truth - I should have just
played.
I cannot comment on a lot of the game play, obviously, but I can
comment on what I saw. What I saw was the most impressive beta test for a ground breaking MMO
since I started playing games. Am I a
fan boi? Have I lost perspective? Am I seeing things through the rosy colored
glasses of someone wanting to hop on the “new thing”? I don’t know.
So, instead of trying to convince you, I’ll try and describe to you what
I saw.
To begin- I am a WvW (or World PvP, wPvP) junkie.
Or well, I was. Seriously, I
couldn’t get enough of it while I was playing World of Warcraft. A good group, with some coordinated attacks,
well utilized cool downs, and you could dominate an unorganized mess of players
for as long as you wanted. It wasn’t
just that, coming from an RP and LARP background; I wanted to be part of a cavalry charge, that
epic part of a battle that cements itself into the memory of the event itself. There’s
a part of us that wants to be part of something larger than ourselves… maybe.
The problem is, in World of Warcraft “world” PvP has no incentive. The honor gain is trivial, considering most
serious PvPers will have their set in the first few weeks of the season. Faction bosses have no loot. Faction bosses give no reputation. And outside of the achievement for doing it
the first time, there is no reason to repeat the process.
There is no need for tactics.
Healers heal. DPS damage. The evolved “zerg” mentality is to have one
person call targets, everybody kills that target. No need for complex strategy. Get in, kill, get out is about the extent of
it.
Not knocking world PvP in World of Warcraft, I’m just saying, I WANT
MORE.
Using the art of cinema, I see world PvP as an intersection of two very
different movies.
On the one hand, we want our World PvP to be like the assault and siege
of Helm's Deep in the Two Tower. In
this case we’re hopelessly outnumbered, but with positioning and tenacity we’re
holding off a relentless enemy. And then
at that crucial moment, when all seems lost, there’s a heroic turn of events
and we emerge from the conflict victorious.
And then… on the other hand, we’re like the last battle scene from the
movie Role Models. We love what we do,
it’s terrific fun; but at the same time anybody on the outside watching us get
really geeked out about what we’re doing might not understand at all. In fact, they might think it’s a little weird. But, pshh, like that’s going to stop us from
doing it.
GUILD WARS 2 WvW IS A LOT LIKE THAT, BUT BETTER!
First, it’s loaded with incentives.
Unlike world PvP in Warcraft, you can jump into right out of the character
creator, no gear grind required. You
will level while doing it. You will gain
gold and possibly gear. Arena.net’s
vision of playing the way you want to is achieved, no prior time sink in
grinding levels or gear necessary.
Next, it’s easy to understand the simplicity of battles. You kill the enemy. Batter down walls and doors. Grab
supply or deliver supply. Take over
keeps or castles. You get the deal- it’s
like almost every “war game” you can find, in MMO format.
BUT, for the added bonus, there is the complexity of strategy that
makes it unlike any PvP game I’ve seen yet.
With a two week battle between three servers, I see the battles
developing like a serious StarCraft II match.
There will be an early game, a mid-game, and a late game. There is an economy to build and
maintain. There is scouting,
reinforcing, harassment. We will be able to see a combat unfold on the
micro level (kill THIS player and taking THIS tower), but we'll also see the BEST servers weave their micro combat into their macro strategy (like, harassing in THIS
area, while resupplying THESE points, and engaging THIS keep).
World PvP in Guild Wars is the best take on World PvP I’ve come across
yet. The conflicts have depth and
meaning, they leave room for heroic moments, they are simple enough you can
jump in and just have fun, but complex enough that grand strategies can be
developed.
WHAT MORE CAN YOU WANT?
