Guild Wars 2 Preview

Massively is offering a new preview of Guild Wars 2, based on a chat with designer Mike Zadorojny and, presumably, some hands-on time with the title. Here’s a snippet:

Among the new additions to this beta are vistas, which are now also required as part of achieving a map completion. Think of these as simpler jumping puzzles. You’ll see an icon floating somewhere high in the air, and it’s your job to figure out how to get up there. Doing so will give you XP and maybe some gold or other items but also a quick cutscene that will show you some of the neat areas around the vista. What’s interesting is that these vistas aren’t limited to just wilderness areas. Lion’s Arch and other capital cities have these as well, and those who find themselves on a vertical wooden pole with a vista in Lion’s Arch may want to try jumping into the mass below them. It’s one of those secret places in the game, kind of like the “secret” underwater tunnels in WvWvW.

For those who haven’t played GW2 or haven’t gotten their feet wet (literally!), the game gives you different moves when you’re in the water, partially because things like ground targeting aren’t really effective while you’re swimming. Underwater combat can be really cool, and there’s a few quest areas under the sea, but as some WvWvW folks may know, you don’t always get to fight in the water, and this is intentional with underwater combat as a whole. It’s a nice option, but at the moment, the game designers don’t want to force everyone into it. I still would like at least one underwater battleground!

Optional, unforced features are a theme throughout the game. Guild Wars 2 wants to give you an idea of different parts of the game without overwhelming you. For example, the game’s basic story element may be cool for some people, but a PvPer can actually skip that and jump into PvP. You won’t miss out on any special abilities as in SWTOR, but GW2 also doesn’t have the explicit options for different outcomes, for the most part. Mike Z mentioned that certain personality types and the way players respond to some conversations may open up secret options in some situations, so if you’re a story fan, pay attention to your options!

Explorer types seem to have received some love as well. Vistas and harder jumping puzzles are fun (Mike, PR man Emil Rodriguez, and my guide Alley spoke of an “arms race” among game designers to make the most difficult puzzle). Unlike the GW1 vial system, the dye system in GW2 required players to actually go out and discover new dyes. These shades are not a one-time-use sort of dye but are permanently unlocked. I was told that at release, there are 200+ various shades for players to find from drops. Whether they drop from specific creatures or have different chances of unlocking certain colors, I’m sure there are a few people besides yours truly trying to calm their inner-collector.