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Ten Ton Hammer Interviews Ben Miller, Design Lead for Guild Wars: Eye of the North

Questions by Cody “Micajah” Bye

For all intents and purposes, the MMOG industry was shocked when ArenaNet, the team that developed Guild Wars and all its subsequent expansions, announced that they were going to be creating a full-blown sequel to Guild Wars that would be a persistent-world MMORPG. In contrast, the original Guild Wars tried to separate itself from the trappings of MMOGs and held a focus on PvP and solo-friendly content rather than typical PvE scenarios. ArenaNet’s sequel, Guild Wars 2, will be as persistent as modern day MMOGs, but will still be free-to-play (once the game is purchased) and the ArenaNet team is striving for ground-breaking new gameplay options for its players.

Before a sequel could be produced, however, the ArenaNet team determined that they would need to combine the lore of the original Guild Wars with its sequel, as the upcoming MMORPG will feature four additional playable races and a host of new encounters that would be totally abstract to the original Guild Wars combatants. Enter Guild Wars: Eye of the North, the first “true” expansion for the series. In order to pin down our information concerning Guild Wars: Eye of the North, we contacted Ben Miller, Design Lead for GW: EN and asked him a trove of questions. His answers are enlightening and entertaining, so sit back and read away!

Ben Miller, Design Lead for Guild Wars: Eye of the North

Ten Ton Hammer: Guild Wars: Eye of the North has been described as the prologue for Guild Wars 2, and that the ArenaNet team is trying to tie-up loose ends with various characters and introduce the races that are going to be a fundamental part of Guild Wars 2. Is this a fair assessment? Besides the areas I’ve just described, how are you making Guild Wars: Eye of the North the prologue for Guild Wars 2?

Ben Miller: That is a fair assessment, and you pretty much covered on everything I've previously said so now it’s time for something new!

Players will get to experience a much more vibrant, living world where there is always something going on, and something to do regardless of who is online. We are really focusing on making questing unique and rewarding, and just overall making it the most polished Guild Wars experience to date.

In terms of moving the franchise forward, Guild Wars: Eye of the North (GW:EN) pushes it to its limits, and in some cases beyond. So as designers we are already getting in the mindset of where we are going with Guild Wars 2 and I think overall you will see that in GW:EN with us pulling out the stops and just going for the cool.

The Norn are one of the four new races introduced in GW: EN.

Ten Ton Hammer: Concerning the four races being introduced in the game – the Norn, Asura, Charr, and Sylvari – how were these races developed in the minds of the ArenaNet team? Were they considered for Guild Wars 2 first, then added to GW: EotN? Or did you consider both products individually and develop the races from their?

Ben: A little bit of everything you mentioned and then some, actually. The Charr are by far the oldest race conceptually, and one that people here are VERY, VERY, VERY passionate about. There was a lot of back on forth to find just the right tone with which to portray them in GW:EN. For the other races it’s more of a parallel development. It’s a juggling act with needing to flesh them out and lay a concrete foundation lore-wise, while at the same time not backing us into any corners if we feel we need change something in the future. I would have to say we consider both GW:EN and Guild Wars 2 collectively when we talk about any of the races, even humans. At the end of the day it’s the same world and it's important that elements in that world be consistent and reinforce one another.