Curse

Sir Skullcrasher · Nov 02, 2006, 01:06 AM // 01:06

I still don't get why A-Net scrap the alliance control towns in Nightfall.

Celios · Nov 02, 2006, 01:10 AM // 01:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sir Skullcrasher

I still don't get why A-Net scrap the alliance control towns in Nightfall.

Because no one cares about AB? ;]

Malice Black · Nov 02, 2006, 01:10 AM // 01:10

[QUOTE=Silly Warrior]Totally agree...after campaign four people will begin moving on, because the game in itself is getting repetitive.

QUOTE]

Agreed, there is only so much you can do with your standard "fantasy" games before they tend to start being repetatitive and similar to every other game in the genere. GW broke the mould in some ways but at the end of the day it still is just like any other fantasy MMO...level, beat the bad guys,farm or PvP.

EVE and possibly WoW are the only current MMO's I can see still being around in a few years time. EVE is the best MMO and the only game in its class worth playing and WoW still might be around because of its vast following.

Anyways..Lawnmower, good post and I'd have to agree with most things on there except new updates for old chapters..this will never happen because Anet need to get people to buy new chapters and this won't happen if they keep updating the old ones.

Diablo™ · Nov 02, 2006, 01:11 AM // 01:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by DutchGun

I recall interviews where Jeff Strain said a number of key personnel, such as all the leads (including the lead designer - can't recall his name) work on all products.

Art Director - Daniel Dociu

rxtracid · Nov 02, 2006, 01:21 AM // 01:21

Another note, when they create new things in the game (depends of course of type of content) these updates will often flow back to previous chapters. This is of course due to the streaming update system they have in place. Making global campaign changes something that currently is taking place. As far as going back and re-making things in Chapters 1 and 2, I don't see them devoting time to do that as people would most likely whine about the changes and about how they used to do this or that, or whine about how the changes weren't good enough and where is our new chapter....

That being said, everyone indeed likes quality, and I'm not opposed to making things better in the first two chapters, but I just don't see them devoting dev teams to it at this point.

CichlidAsh · Nov 02, 2006, 01:39 AM // 01:39

I have to say that I disagree that updating the original campaign is really needed at this point in time, I would like to see the series constantly move forward not have half the development team devoted to tweaking a year+ old campaign that is not really bringing in Anet enough to justify such actions and development costs. If Anet loses half its revenue because having to devote half its programmers to Prophecies then do you really see them being able to produce quality products the Nightfall is? If they ever do take this approach in the future (Which I doubt) then I would like to see the Factions team be placed in the position not the Nightfall one, which IMHO produced a product that's way above the quality of Factions.
Looking at how Factions compares to Nightfall I am not overly looking forward to Chapter 04 but I am really looking forward to Chapter 05.

Yawgmoth · Nov 02, 2006, 09:22 AM // 09:22

Anet probably knows that much better and has it already planned, but my suggestion to the strategy is:
Instead of creating another stand alone campagin and releasing it April'07, then another one 6 months later, do the following:

(1.) Upgrade the previous 2 chapters to the current GW:NF standards and promote them, so that any player who owns a single campagin, especially ones who started with Nightfall, would want to have the complete trilogy.
Deal with the BIG THREE issues that beg to be done since the beginning of GW - Reconnets! (for everyone) Storage! (more and better for each owned campagin) and a Trading system! (maybe an auction house with limited functionality for everyone, with full advanced version being a feature of...

...(2.) An expansion that is not stand-alone! Coming April'07! Cheaper, smaller than a whole new game but containing mostly high-end content, focusing on replayability. Obviously add some new skills, PvP maps, new items, armors, pets n stuff, but No new professions. This expansion should tie the whole trilogy into a whole compact world, filling all holes that need to be filled like introducing the missing 3 gods realms.

(3.) The next ground-breaking hit, a full standalone GW campagin 4 to be released Autumn'07. With more time to work on it make it perfect. Make it big with a completely new world and story. Significant engine upgrades, completely new features, 2 new professions or maybe a new playable race, or something else. I bet Anet has a lot of cool ideas for it.
LATE EDIT: i forgot to add that the Autumn'07 campagin would obviously be compatibile and connected to to the whole world, so that characters can travel between the lands. A full standalone like Nightfall... I thought its too obvious to mention...

Arduin · Nov 02, 2006, 10:40 AM // 10:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yawgmoth

(3.) The next ground-breaking hit, a full standalone GW campagin 4 to be released Autumn'07. With more time to work on it make it perfect. Make it big with a completely new world and story. Significant engine upgrades, completely new features, 2 new professions or maybe a new playable race, or something else. I bet Anet has a lot of cool ideas for it.

...but I want to bring my toons too

One of the merits of the Guild Wars Universe to me is that I'm still playing with the character I created 18 months ago, and enjoying it. If a stand alone campaign will be released... I guess I'll stay in Tyria/Cantha/Elona then...

Phenick · Nov 02, 2006, 12:28 PM // 12:28

Okay... Lol

I think there are two major points missing from this discussion...

A. This company made Guild Wars.... Have you all lost faith?

B. This game from the beginning set out to break molds from other games. So what stops this game from breaking the molds of itself. It has been said many times that Magic the Gathering is a major influence on this game. For those who do not know, the way magic works, is this.. Every year there is a major "block" consisting of 3 expansions to the magic universe... in the fall comes the BIG set consisting of 360+ cards, then 3 months later comes the middle set with like 160 new cards and 3 months after that the last set in the block with 160 new cards... every summer comes a small set of some sort(some summers nothing) The small set is usually a Core set... Core is a reprint set that brings back all the goodies of the entire past of magic to keep what makes the basic game function...

Magic is the same game it was in 1992 when it was first made... Cards with pictures and words... Players with life totals and libraries... Guild Wars set up a foundation of fun gameplay that Anet plans to build on. The gameplay is perfect to me. 8 skills, primary attributes, 3 supportive...

The number one rule of magic developers is its okay to break the rules of the game...

To sum up, I think Anet is a great company, they come from good upbringing at Blizzard NORTH, I think all 3 GW campaigns are brilliant... I trust these people as developers and I understand that they need to pay the bills. They will continue releasing games in the cycle they started and they will get more efficient at it.. They will continue to make good games without diverting terribly from the core gameplay and we will all buy and play it... In the very late future I forsee a "Core" release of guildwars bringing back all the things that worked and dropping the things that didnt and releasing it as new content... It too will succeed... Magic is an extremly old game and it really is the same as it was in the beginning... Guild Wars will do this as well and I will play to the bitter end...

Kais Unduli · Nov 02, 2006, 12:39 PM // 12:39

I love the idea. I'm probably one of the few people who enjoyed playing through Factions multiple times, and I would love to see some new updates made to the campaign. I rarely set foot in Tyria anymore, but I would love to see some new things there as well.

If we could get continuous updates, then I think waiting a year would definitely be worth it. However, Anet would need a way to continue bringing in revenue, so I don't think it's practical.

SilentAssassin · Nov 02, 2006, 01:02 PM // 13:02

/not signed

I like the 6 month strategy, Guildwars is the only game I play (maybe this is because I don't got alot spair time) but imo its the best game I've ever played and I want a new GuildWars every 6 months so I can keep playing new content over and over again.

Also don't forget they need to pay for the servers, they need money for the servers and they don't get money from you for playing a year, they need this 6 month new game system to pay everyone in the company, to pay for the servers and offcourse to be a profitable company.

I am just amased by Nightfall, that a company can create such a game in 1 year... unbelievable, congrats Anet.

Oh and don't forget Anet is not only looking at ppl that have been playing for years, they are looking for newer players who pick up the game and say, hmm heard of this game gonna try it.

I don't understand that now nightfall is just out and you haven't even played the full game yet in all his aspects that you are already saying that they should change strategy (these topics were also here after factions and look what nightfall gives us)

Anet has proven that they can make game changes, and lovly games in 1 year time, why not let them do it? I rather have to much content then to less.

Darakus · Nov 02, 2006, 01:49 PM // 13:49

I agree with the original poster that an overhaul of the previous chapters is needed to bring them up to par with what we have seen in Nightfall.

I am even prepared if need be to have that overhaul and a new storyline encompassing all three chapters currently existing as the next chapter, in my mind it would be better to improve on quality and give us a storyline well worth it than keep up with the new content while leaving the rest down, I know the game have been presented to us as separate but who among us trully thinks of Guildwars as asingle campaign.

Illuminus · Nov 02, 2006, 02:00 PM // 14:00

Pfft.. i have full confidence in what A-Net will do in the future. We can suggest and recommend all we want, but at the end of the day they are the professionals that have been making games for quite some time now. Sure, they might make a few minor mistakes here and there.. but thats the best way to strengthen their products in the future.

I personally like Factions and how it played out. Its just unfortunate about the lack of players in the Jade Quarry.. not to mention the constant leeching that happens in Fort Aspenwood.

slyydrr · Nov 02, 2006, 03:11 PM // 15:11

I decided I'd come out of the woodwork, and actually post something!

Here's the way I see it. When GW came out, there were skeptics of course, about everything being instanced. Sure enough though, everything worked out fine, and 3 campaigns later, GW is not only still alive and kicking, it's actually thriving. It seemed that A.Net was more than a step ahead of everyone. They had an idea, and went with it with confidence, and it paid off well for them. In a world full of emerging MMOs, they tried somethign slightly different and it worked out quite well. In this aspect, I look at A.Net as having entrepreneurial characteristics.

That being said, I'm sure A.Net is already one step ahead of us. Afterall, they started with a group of developers who suceded from Blizzard to do things the way they saw fit--the way a gamer would want. I have no doubts in my mind that the developers are already working on something different than the current style of GW. They're smarter than that. They finished the initial trilogy and it went extremely well, I have no doubt that future productions will be just as successful.

In the end, I think we owe it to A.Net to assume that they've already thought ahead and are in the process of developing something that is slightly different than what they currently have (GW), but only time will tell.

ChaoticCoyote · Nov 02, 2006, 03:29 PM // 15:29

Guild Wars could follow a precedent set by another popular RPG, Oblivion.

Oblivion had considerable success with add-on's sold for a low price through their online store.

Do a Sorrow's Furnace-style addition to Cantha, and put it in the online store for $5.00. Give Prophecies a real end game area (something, say, after the Titan Quests), and charge $10. Make realms for Lyssa and Melandru, and sell them for $10. Then, after six months and a few add-ons, package them all as "update packs" in stores for $29.95.

Just a suggestion.

As for Campaign 4: I'd like to see a return to lands north of Ascalon, and the rebuilding of the Kingdom. The King needs a new heir, the Charr still need their fannies kicked...

led-zep · Nov 02, 2006, 03:31 PM // 15:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sir Skullcrasher

I still don't get why A-Net scrap the alliance control towns in Nightfall.

because apart from a few rare occasions the faction line rarely moved and was all a bit of a waste of time?

i dont think people took to it as anet would of liked, they saw it as a constantly moving battle line but it was actually a pretty static region marker

CtrlAltDel · Nov 02, 2006, 03:34 PM // 15:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by TsunamiZ

they should add the 4 expansion professions to all the chapters, if a user combines the accounts. instead of limiting to chapter specific professions.

yeah because all those dervish/assassin/paragon/ritualist trainers and quest givers in GWP are just bored :P

EternalTempest · Nov 02, 2006, 04:08 PM // 16:08

Each chapter gets 1 full year of development.

I feel that nightfall went so well because the plot controls so many aspects of the game, and hiring one of the original creators of the DND Forgotten Realms settings creators was a huge impact to guildwars. I hope he stays on.

I can see the OP point where if you have a soild game that keeps selling enough to support the fan base and bringing money to the company even to keep GW going (like diablo 2).

Anet is not big enough / stable enough to do this. Anet is still a really small dev company under NCSoft publishing. I don't think they have the man power to do this. They may in the future but Anet makes such a great game it seems like there hundred of employees but I suspect < 100.

Now if they started a side project where they keep adding "little" things that can make an impact. Material Storage, Gui Updates, Henchmen control do make very nice upgrades to older games but adding a quest here, a visible tweak there. Cross chapter quests (assuming you own all chapters involved) can be little things they add value but don't take large resources.

I think Factions was weak because Anet miscalculated about people losing intrest in 6 months, I think they planned a game with "6 months of play material" where Nightfall appears to be designed that you can get really involved.

I think NF has shown Anet that close attention to plot, story, (variation like the single person mission), is the new standard for Pve.

Karmaniac · Nov 02, 2006, 04:29 PM // 16:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phenick

Okay... Lol

I think there are two major points missing from this discussion...

A. This company made Guild Wars.... Have you all lost faith?

....etc.

Magic is the same game it was in 1992 when it was first made... Cards with pictures and words... Players with life totals and libraries... Guild Wars set up a foundation of fun gameplay that Anet plans to build on. The gameplay is perfect to me. 8 skills, primary attributes, 3 supportive...

The number one rule of magic developers is its okay to break the rules of the game...

I have some difficulty understanding your logic. Hitler for example rose to power when Germany was in severe recession. He started public construction projects, gave people work, degree of lifestyle and generally boosted morale. And yet I somehow don't particularly like what the man did. That is he led the world into an unimaginably brutal war, committed the ultimate attrocity and in a sense consequentially eased the moral grounds that might have kept America from using weapons of mass destruction against civilian population first and last time in mankind's history.
I'm not associating Anet with Adolf but I think judging by past accomplisments is not the greatest of arguments.

Next about MtG and GW: Yes, there are certain similarities between the two. Both depend equally on skill and equipment (skills and stuff). While I agree that MtG's core idea might be to break all rules it certainly is not GW's statement. On the contrary GW aims at balance above all else. Wizards of the Coast rarely restricted the game and only as the last resort. Of course once in a while decks (builds) emerged that were totally overpowering that dominated tournaments until something better came up yet nobody complained. See, MtG was competitive but it never tried to be fair nor balanced. You were never penalized for being better player than the opponent whereas in GW such builds are dealth with swift (and more often than not half-assed and shortsighted) nerfs. And behold: people complain!
This is how I see things at least.

Uhhh, and then I kinda forgot what this thread was all about but nevertheless I'm enjoying my NF tremendously. Great game but I don't think I can handle another total overhaul.

HawkofStorms · Nov 02, 2006, 04:31 PM // 16:31

Sounds like you want Guild Wars 2 (not like Chapter 2, but a real sequel with a whole new engine/system).

Give it time.