Post by Morreion on Sept 13, 2012 15:55:21 GMT -5
Here's some positive observations on GW2 I've noticed.
1) Buy To Play (B2P) is a price model I think we will be seeing more of.
Unlike F2P, a studio makes money by selling the box or game download, providing up-front money that can be augmented by reasonable cash shop sales and future expansions. F2P titles have to make all of their money from their cash shop, making it more likely they will charge for things that players will absolutely need to play, turning off many. With B2P, players don't feel that they have to play to get their money's worth like they do in subscription games. They can come and go, playing as they please. MMO players seem to be more reluctant to commit to a sub these days- B2P may very well be the standard model in the future.
2) GW2's scaling up and down mechanism will become an MMO standard.
When you play PvP, everyone is scaled up to level 80, giving a relative even field as far as hit points go. Players who are higher-level will have an edge due to having more skills or skill points, but level differences in PvP aren't large. In PvE, when you travel to a lower-level zone, your character is automatically 'down-leveled' to that area. That character has more skills and skill points so it has some advantage, but the content is challenging enough.
These scaling level mechanisms allow players to play with their friends regardless of what their level is. It also allows them to play in areas they may have missed when leveling up- they can go back and experience all of the content, repeatedly if they like, while still being challenged. This allows for greater replayability and you can have your 3-year-old maxxed-out character play with a level 1 newbie and have fun.
3) Earning experience for filling in maps- visiting all of the waypoints, points of interest, vistas, and completing all of the heart event public quests in a zone- brings a refreshing non-linear exploration playstyle that's been missing in themepark MMOs for many years.
It doesn't make the game a sandbox, but it makes it feel bigger, and it allows players with non-traditional playstyles to have fun doing something other than killing 100,000 mobs. Heck, you can even level up crafting!
4) Dynamic events (public quests) are a welcome change from doing hundreds of solo quests.
Sure, you have a personal story quest line, but that is just an occasional quest that you look forward to when you aren't doing hundreds of the same-ol' same-ol' kill this collect this or deliver this quests. And even if dynamic events don't live up to their world-changing hype, they are a refreshing break from all of those repetitious quests! You can walk into a dynamic event, join in with others, and get proportional credit and rewards for your effort. There's no having to compare quest lists with other players to see who needs to do what. You can repeat dynamic events and get some credit for doing it again. This allows for more fluid playstyles without artificial barriers.
5) GW2 de-emphasizes anti-social mechanics.
All resource nodes can be harvested by any and every player- no ninja-stealing here. Every player can resurrect other players and gives them experience for doing so. Dynamic events give some credit to all participants. This seems to take away much rancorous behavior that one encounters in MMOs. Granted this does not necessarily make for a good community or even a social game in and of itself, but at least players don't grief each other nearly as much as in other games.
Overall, GW2 has brought a lot to the table that future MMO devs should take note of. It is different enough from the typical short-term WoW remake that too many MMOs have become.
1) Buy To Play (B2P) is a price model I think we will be seeing more of.
Unlike F2P, a studio makes money by selling the box or game download, providing up-front money that can be augmented by reasonable cash shop sales and future expansions. F2P titles have to make all of their money from their cash shop, making it more likely they will charge for things that players will absolutely need to play, turning off many. With B2P, players don't feel that they have to play to get their money's worth like they do in subscription games. They can come and go, playing as they please. MMO players seem to be more reluctant to commit to a sub these days- B2P may very well be the standard model in the future.
2) GW2's scaling up and down mechanism will become an MMO standard.
When you play PvP, everyone is scaled up to level 80, giving a relative even field as far as hit points go. Players who are higher-level will have an edge due to having more skills or skill points, but level differences in PvP aren't large. In PvE, when you travel to a lower-level zone, your character is automatically 'down-leveled' to that area. That character has more skills and skill points so it has some advantage, but the content is challenging enough.
These scaling level mechanisms allow players to play with their friends regardless of what their level is. It also allows them to play in areas they may have missed when leveling up- they can go back and experience all of the content, repeatedly if they like, while still being challenged. This allows for greater replayability and you can have your 3-year-old maxxed-out character play with a level 1 newbie and have fun.
3) Earning experience for filling in maps- visiting all of the waypoints, points of interest, vistas, and completing all of the heart event public quests in a zone- brings a refreshing non-linear exploration playstyle that's been missing in themepark MMOs for many years.
It doesn't make the game a sandbox, but it makes it feel bigger, and it allows players with non-traditional playstyles to have fun doing something other than killing 100,000 mobs. Heck, you can even level up crafting!
4) Dynamic events (public quests) are a welcome change from doing hundreds of solo quests.
Sure, you have a personal story quest line, but that is just an occasional quest that you look forward to when you aren't doing hundreds of the same-ol' same-ol' kill this collect this or deliver this quests. And even if dynamic events don't live up to their world-changing hype, they are a refreshing break from all of those repetitious quests! You can walk into a dynamic event, join in with others, and get proportional credit and rewards for your effort. There's no having to compare quest lists with other players to see who needs to do what. You can repeat dynamic events and get some credit for doing it again. This allows for more fluid playstyles without artificial barriers.
5) GW2 de-emphasizes anti-social mechanics.
All resource nodes can be harvested by any and every player- no ninja-stealing here. Every player can resurrect other players and gives them experience for doing so. Dynamic events give some credit to all participants. This seems to take away much rancorous behavior that one encounters in MMOs. Granted this does not necessarily make for a good community or even a social game in and of itself, but at least players don't grief each other nearly as much as in other games.
Overall, GW2 has brought a lot to the table that future MMO devs should take note of. It is different enough from the typical short-term WoW remake that too many MMOs have become.
