NCSoft Media Quickie

Guild Wars

by Shiina Liao

Tuesday, 11 May 06
Guild Wars: Factions and Overview of Upcoming NCsoft Titles
Shiina “Kir” Liao

This appointment was a surprise. Prior to the NCsoft appointment, I had the mistaken impression that it would likely focus on covering its main MMOG titles such as Auto Assault, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Guild Wars, and Tabula Rasa. I did know that it would involve many short presentations of 15 minutes each in which a bit about each game would be thrown at us, and perhaps a few questions could be had during each one. Of what was presented, only 2 of the expected titles made a showing. Guild Wars: Factions, and Tabula Rasa. What’s the surprise, then?

It is that they threw in presentations for 4 additional non-conventional MMOG titles which promise to be free for play! By non-conventional MMOG, think along the lines of perhaps Diablo 2, or Gunbound. Each of these titles promises the same quality of detail and support to be expected of NCsoft, and each one will offer some option for players to pay money for as of yet undetermined options, which would be different for each game. Perhaps they would be along the lines of purchasing loot, or fancy cosmetic items for customizing your avatar. Don’t worry, paying for those things would remain optional, and access to the games will be free, or at least substantial portions of them. As we were assured, they would not be “5 minute demos.” The experiences of these 4 games will center on providing short quick pick-up games that maximize fun, and minimize downtime. But how I’m going to approach this is…

I’m going to go over each separate game a bit and impart the taste of each that I got onto you. Due to the nature of the rapid paced showings, if you want to get a quick glimpse at all of what’s new and what’s coming, this should be perfect. For fans of Guild Wars, I highly recommend you take a look at the Guild Wars: Factions section as details on the upcoming 2nd expansion were revealed for the first time ever at E3 2006.

Guild Wars: Factions
Presentation by Mike O’Brien, Co-founder of ArenaNet

Guild Wars: Factions is the standalone campaign expansion for the original Guild Wars: Prophecies. As usual, there is no monthly fee, and they want every expansion to have a distinct theme so everyone will remember the separate experiences. These are all different stories that take place within the Guild Wars universe. Factions has a very obvious Asian theme. From the scenery to the architecture, and even the classes such as an Assassin, it’s indeed very distinctive. Some of its most prominent new features are how the story includes shifting alliances and their borders/troop movements are shown by lines on the map. These are determined by players’ activities in the game, as they can join up and fight for either of two sides present in the conflict. Factions can also own towns and outposts which provide access to “elite” missions, which offer some of the most challenging experiences and also the most visually distinctive weapons and items for rewards. It’s really all about increasing the benefits of taking part in the community and game world. Next, Mike O’Brien goes over what Guild Wars as a whole has accomplish and done lately of particular note.

An observer mode was implemented in which anyone can spectate the battles and matches of highly skilled guilds and teams fighting against one another. These teams are able to stand out from one another by utilizing their highly honed skills and tactics, and the game itself supports immense depth for competitive play. Watching these battles can be entertaining in its own right, or people can utilize it as a tool for developing their own strategies. Which brings us to the GWWC “Guild Wars World Championship,” which is currently in the 2nd season. The GWWC involves a ladder season in which different guilds fight it out for a qualifying ranking, and then participate in online matches to determine who gets selected to represent their region at the live events. The first one was held in Taipei, and a Korean guild won $50k out of a $100k total purse with first place. Look forward to the next championship tournament during August 24-26 in Germany! And now for the info that Guild Wars fans have been waiting for…

A first sneak peak of the next expansion!  It has a very definitive North African theme. Deserts, barren and desolate lands, and lumbering elephants. It seems to also extend to the general region and perhaps drawing influences from some Middle-East locations, as there seems to be varieties of structures shown that draw inspiration from there as well. Grandiose palaces shimmering with ornate beauty and settings that brings to the mind wonderings of the history and lore of the land. Unfortunately, they asked all of us to not take any pictures of videos, and it was to remain a viewing for our eyes only. Sorry! Anyways, you can expect to see this expansion available to you in 6 months. ArenaNet now has two teams available to work on new campaigns concurrently, and their goal is to release 2 per year. Q&A time has come, and the questions of the curious now have their chance to be asked.

Most of the questions were answered quickly and swiftly, most of which were simply asking for confirmation of basic gameplay elements and its non-monthly fee model. It was divulged that non-humans as playable characters are not coming in the foreseeable future. I threw in a question at the end, though.  And I was pleased that it actually received quick praise and a brief pause of thought! I asked about the possibility of a “Tournament Edition” which many dedicated fans and prospective competitive gamers from other genres are really hoping for. As many already familiar with Guild Wars knows, being highly competitive is very dependant on having a large set of skills with which to have flexibility of utilizing different strategies. As each expansion introduces more and more skills and even classes, newcomers will be behind as they work to attain what veterans have had for a year already. If they’re seeking to fight among the top, the new player is actually often at a disadvantage. So the proposal of the community was the compromise in the form of a “tournament” edition. Even if it was available through online distribution only, it would be a package that would support PvP only, and provide unlocked skills for those who want to pursue the game solely as a venture in competitive play. And for those that wanted to get into PvP even just casually but didn’t have the time to unlock their potential, they could look into this as well. However, the answer finally came. They recognize it as an issue, and they have a few ideas. It is being worked on, but they actually have nothing they can discuss at the moment. At least they are aware, though! Being active in reacting to community feedback; it’s nice to see it happen in practice. Great presentation—when E3 is over, I’ll be enjoying Guild Wars: Factions from the comfort of my home. Check out Guild Wars – Ten Ton Hammer for more info!