Cutting Edge Part II - What do the Most Anticipated MMOs Bring to the Table?

• Date: 02-01-2010 Views:

  KeyWords: Cutting Edge, Part 2, Most Anticipated MMOs

• Summary: In the midst of stale progression, uninspiring game mechanics and sloppy execution of game design elements, we continue to look at the glimpses of originality and refreshing gameplay that new mmo games bring with their release. Thus, the games will not be analyzed as a whole but only in terms of the standalone aspects mentioned above. Since there are quite a few games to present, there will be a follow up article soon. I did not include IP (Intellectual Property) and lore which, despite being at times quite appealing, are present in all games to a certain degree.
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Cutting Edge - What do the Most Anticipated MMOs Bring to the Table? Part II By Vasily Tedeev V is happy that he took up writing again, something he had dreamed of doing ever since he was nine years old. Being a nonconforming combination of a social party animal and a gamer, he realized that his life amounted not to just games and women, but that he had to pursue his passions and self-development in other areas as well.

Cutting Edge – What do the Most Anticipated MMOs Bring to the Table? Part I

In the midst of stale progression, uninspiring game mechanics and sloppy execution of game design elements, we continue to look at the glimpses of originality and refreshing gameplay that new mmo games bring with their release. Thus, the games will not be analyzed as a whole but only in terms of the standalone aspects mentioned above. Since there are quite a few games to present, there will be a follow up article soon. I did not include IP (Intellectual Property) and lore which, despite being at times quite appealing, are present in all games to a certain degree.

Perhaps there is still hope for the evolution of online games as a whole as more developers strive to do things differently than their competitors. Perhaps there isn't. It is up to you, reader, to decide.

Guild Wars 2

The sequel to the popular Guild Wars series which is being developed by ArenaNet. The developer aims to retain the feel of the first series of games which were fairly easy to get into and allowed players to participate in non-stop PvP as well as PvE action. Guild Wars 2 will also follow the same business model where the game is free to play after purchasing the box and any additional expansions will not prevent existing players from enjoying the original release.

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How is it different?

The original Guild Wars discarded a lot of the concepts similar games deemed as irreplaceable in combat and replaced them with a system which was somewhat similar to Magic: The Gathering where players create ‘stacks' of skills to use. Some of the design decisions allowed the players to escape the common problems associated with online games such as spawn camping and griefing. Guild Wars 2 aims to incorporate most of elements that made the first series so fun as well as go for a more persistent and open world feel and adding new elements such as the ability to move in all three dimensions.

The opportunity to select a secondary profession in the starting region of the game allows for a wider choice of differentiation between players and a more interesting blend of combat tactics.

Dynamic event system will allow players to make choices within the game world which are presented to them in an interesting fashion. Do you help the soldiers fight off the centaurs and launch a counter-attack or do you simply watch as they fall prey to their enemy? The decision is entirely up to you.

There is a side-kicking system which will allow higher level characters to transfer their skills to lower level characters, thus ensuring competitive gameplay without the need to grind. Also, entry to the various PvP arenas will grant a player access to the fixed items and skills available for the designated level.

Full Size
Guild Wars 2 Gallery

Full Size
Guild Wars 2 Gallery