Guild Wars Mini-Interview #52

ArenaNet has answered another small batch of questions about Guild Wars, and this time the interview is at Crossing Tyria. A snip:

Q: Faction was recently implemented into Guild Wars to alleviate the concerns that the PvP community had regarding their ability to unlock skills and runes in a timely manner. Is ArenaNet satisfied with the end result of faction and how it has effected the PvP community? Should we expect to see more changes to faction in the near future?

A: Well, first of all, the change naturally came about as a means to address concerns regarding PvP play. But given the heat of this issue, and the sometimes-divisive discussions surrounding it, it’s important to say that we didn’t make the change to pander to any specific group. In the end, the change was made in order to assure that each type of gameplay has a certain type of reward.

We believe that few players fall into the (I only play PvE) or (PvP is the only kind of gaming I do) categories. Instead, we’re pretty convinced that most players enjoy both types of gameplay, even if they have a preference for one form or the other. The changes we made were intentionally implemented as faction, rather than one of the several alternative means of implementation we could have chosen, in order to pave the way for future rewards. Tyria has a rich legacy of association with many different gods from Balthazar to Dwayna. In the future, there may be rewards offered in alignment with other gods, or several new and novel ways to gain rewards.

Faction has allowed players to engage in PvP and feel that they were actually making some sort of progress. We know that not everyone is 100% satisfied. There are definitely many adjustments we will consider; there are certainly some that we will make. Right now, we are looking at statistics to see how quickly people are earning faction, and in what manner. I’m sure fans know based on the history of Guild Wars from Alpha through release that we will be open to suggestions, receptive to input, and fully capable and willing to make adjustments as they are needed.

Oh, and I should share the news that there will be a sort of (State of the Game) letter from James Phinney coming soon. You will most likely see that letter by midweek next week.