Deviating from the MMOG norm is something that many games promise but many fail to do, yet ArenaNet is repeatedly making bold statements about how it does not plan on following every other MMOG into the doldrums with Guild Wars 2. Things continue with another new video, this time showcasing actual GW2 gameplay dubbed with a very intrepid speech by various key creators from ArenaNet detailing their commitment to their design manifesto and how GW2 will be an amazing game for all kinds of people.

[video]http://video.tentonhammer.com/GW2/GuildWars2-MMOManifesto.FLV[/video]

Design Manifestos and You

The video is known simply as their “MMO manifesto video” which covers their “design manifesto” posted earlier this year quite well. It begins with a speech by Mike O’Brien, founder of ArenaNet, talking about the core strengths of GW2. He makes a very strong statement saying that if you like MMOGs you’ll love GW2, but if you hate them you’ll love it even more. This is very powerful because it’s highlighting the fact that GW2 will not be the standard MMO where you sit and fight monster after monster grinding endlessly.

It then switches over to Daniel Dociu, the art director, who goes over the artistic style of GW2 and is finished up with Colin Johanson and Ree Soesbee highlighting how boring most MMO combat is and how GW2 will, at least the way I understood it, be a lot more epic than your standard MMO offerings. Both make a great point and there was one quote that I absolutely loved:

“I swung a sword, I swung a sword again, heyy I swung it again that’s great”

This is MMO combat summed up as it stands. You log online, go to a monster, right click it and wait for its death. Pressing your abilities in the right order speeds up the process, but otherwise it’s an endless grind spree with almost no interaction. The mere promise of something more to combat than waiting the 30 seconds for an enemy to perish makes me happy to hear.

An example of how immersive and interactive the world is was given. In your standard MMOs you’ll hear about a centaur raid on a village and see a group of centaurs standing outside that you’ll need to kill. In GW2 you’ll see the centaurs attacking, killing people, and actually doing what the quest text says.

The video itself contains a lot of interesting background shots of the world. It starts off with Divinity’s Reach, then moves on to a Charr tower using cannons to bombard the ground below, and finally shows an epic dragon battle.

Walking the Walk

Following the video, Mike O’Brien posted on the official ArenaNet blog about their plans to attend various conventions coming up as well as their commitment to follow-up on everything they’ve promised so far. Live demos of the game will be showcased as Gamescom in Cologne followed by PAX Prime in Seattle. That’s when we’ll get our first hands on experience with GW2.

I did find the following quote to be rather interesting:

So you’ve read these articles, and in general we know your reaction has been, “That all sounds great in theory, but I’ll believe it when I see it.” Well, get ready, because we’ve talked the talk, and now we’re going to walk the walk. Today we’re releasing a video that showcases all this innovative gameplay we’ve been talking about, and next week we’ll present a hands-on demo to the 250,000 attendees of gamescom in Cologne, followed by a second showing at PAX Prime in Seattle two weeks later.

This is important to me because we’ve heard all of these amazing things, from personal stories to advanced combat and the new skill bar but we’ve yet to see any of it live and in person. The fact that we’ll be able to see the game live or at least hear actual reports from people who have played the game means that we’ll have a lot more to look forward to. Its one thing to read “the game will have this” and it’s an entirely different thing to see it in person.

One more interesting thing was said:

That enormous steel structure in the video is called Steeleye Span. It’s a charr stronghold whose cannons hold the line against an army of corrupted dragon minions that rise up from the scorched earth in an area known as the Brand. Come play as a charr and man those cannons!

Charr will be starting at level 47, so it’s rather impressive that you’re not even max level and will be taking on a massive dragon and his minions at a tower near the Dragonbrand. If that’s what lower level content is like then I can’t wait to play through and level up, something that I haven’t said about a game in forever.

What do you think about the video and subsequent followup posts at the official ArenaNet blog? Are you excited for GW2 or are you still having a dissenting opinion about everything? Come to our forums and share your thoughts. Be sure to stay tuned here to Ten Ton Hammer for both Gamescom and PAX Prime coverage in the coming weeks.