Furthermore, I can't find much about the Asurans that is similar to Yoda beyond some slight appearance.
I think that most MMO players will need to free themselves from their expectations and try to smell the coffee in this game for once instead of racing to the top and looking around for some dungeons to raid repeatedly. Arenanet has said that there are many stories in GW2 rather than the over-arcing story lines that GW1 had, so it is not even tying itself down to repeating what it accomplished with GW1. We should all be forewarned to expect something unique and perhaps stop trying to compare it to the familiar.
I was struck this third weekend by the humorous touches the writers had injected into the Sylvari, Asuran, and yes, even the Norn personal stories I found myself experiencing. Once again I was reminded by the writers/developers that their Prime Objective for GW2 is to show us a good time. Maybe we need to relax and let them do that.
I ignore the hype as much as I can about any game coming out. I played GW1 for a number of years, and enjoyed it a great deal, so I will continue to have an interest in GW2 no matter what the hype may or may not be. I suppose that makes me a fan. I actually do see a few possibilities of game-changing features in GW2. Even if there's nothing particularly new, at least it is refreshingly dynamic.
I had that gut-wrenching feeling of "Where's the tutorial?" but it only lasted a few minutes, because by then I was swept up into the gameplay, which was certainly less boring than any tutorial would have been. I vote "yes" to the lack of tutorial.
Rails or no rails, the world is certainly large enough, artistic and varied enough to satisfy even the most demanding MMO player. People long to get rid of the traditional questing system, but with what would they replace it? GW2 is clearly going to be rich in lore and things to do. I'm looking forward to exploring underwater areas, and I have hopes that they may produce some interesting new beasts and maybe even peoples to encounter. I vote "yes" to the GW2 world.
I am excited by the prospect of each class having heals, although I am not convinced yet that the heals are effectual enough for each class. This will surely become one of many balance issues. Time will tell whether the holy trinity has actually lost its grip, but I would dearly love to see the end of it, myself. At least there is a chance of its demise in GW2. The fact that there will be many balance issues is frightening, because when people start complaining about balance issues, out comes the nerf bat, and I hate that even worse than the issues that spawn it. I vote "no" to constant balancing. If I could ask the devs for one favor, I would ask that they concentrate on working as much of this out as possible before release.
Having the opportunity to customize your character's combat as much as in GW2 is going to keep the min-maxers busy testing to find the best builds for awhile, at least. That gives us a little while to enjoy experimenting for ourselves. Weapon-swapping adds yet another dimension. Having to learn to dodge effectively and react at least somewhat even to PVE mobs is also an improvement over old-school stand-and-swing MMOs. The challenges of combat in the beta kept it interesting and exciting, to me. I vote "yes" to the combat system.
How have so many people become self-appointed authoritative critics of voice-acting and of writing? And of course for them, one or two beta weekends is ample to make judgments. I must have really bad taste in voice acting because I love Guild Wars' cutscenes, old and new, corny and not. Let it be noted that each of the three GW1 games had a long and involved over-arcing story line to keep you interested and involved all the way to the top of the game. Guild Wars 1 told us some great stories, imho, and I expect as much from GW2. I vote "yes" to the individualized stories and to a fantasy game that allows you to fantasize about becoming the character you'd like to be.
I definitely agree, Mitchwise.
Furthermore, I can't find much about the Asurans that is similar to Yoda beyond some slight appearance.
I think that most MMO players will need to free themselves from their expectations and try to smell the coffee in this game for once instead of racing to the top and looking around for some dungeons to raid repeatedly. Arenanet has said that there are many stories in GW2 rather than the over-arcing story lines that GW1 had, so it is not even tying itself down to repeating what it accomplished with GW1. We should all be forewarned to expect something unique and perhaps stop trying to compare it to the familiar.
I was struck this third weekend by the humorous touches the writers had injected into the Sylvari, Asuran, and yes, even the Norn personal stories I found myself experiencing. Once again I was reminded by the writers/developers that their Prime Objective for GW2 is to show us a good time. Maybe we need to relax and let them do that.
Here here!! Bravo! A masterful summary and reply to the article!
UE is the voice of reason on this thread.
I ignore the hype as much as I can about any game coming out. I played GW1 for a number of years, and enjoyed it a great deal, so I will continue to have an interest in GW2 no matter what the hype may or may not be. I suppose that makes me a fan. I actually do see a few possibilities of game-changing features in GW2. Even if there's nothing particularly new, at least it is refreshingly dynamic.
I had that gut-wrenching feeling of "Where's the tutorial?" but it only lasted a few minutes, because by then I was swept up into the gameplay, which was certainly less boring than any tutorial would have been. I vote "yes" to the lack of tutorial.
Rails or no rails, the world is certainly large enough, artistic and varied enough to satisfy even the most demanding MMO player. People long to get rid of the traditional questing system, but with what would they replace it? GW2 is clearly going to be rich in lore and things to do. I'm looking forward to exploring underwater areas, and I have hopes that they may produce some interesting new beasts and maybe even peoples to encounter. I vote "yes" to the GW2 world.
I am excited by the prospect of each class having heals, although I am not convinced yet that the heals are effectual enough for each class. This will surely become one of many balance issues. Time will tell whether the holy trinity has actually lost its grip, but I would dearly love to see the end of it, myself. At least there is a chance of its demise in GW2. The fact that there will be many balance issues is frightening, because when people start complaining about balance issues, out comes the nerf bat, and I hate that even worse than the issues that spawn it. I vote "no" to constant balancing. If I could ask the devs for one favor, I would ask that they concentrate on working as much of this out as possible before release.
Having the opportunity to customize your character's combat as much as in GW2 is going to keep the min-maxers busy testing to find the best builds for awhile, at least. That gives us a little while to enjoy experimenting for ourselves. Weapon-swapping adds yet another dimension. Having to learn to dodge effectively and react at least somewhat even to PVE mobs is also an improvement over old-school stand-and-swing MMOs. The challenges of combat in the beta kept it interesting and exciting, to me. I vote "yes" to the combat system.
How have so many people become self-appointed authoritative critics of voice-acting and of writing? And of course for them, one or two beta weekends is ample to make judgments. I must have really bad taste in voice acting because I love Guild Wars' cutscenes, old and new, corny and not. Let it be noted that each of the three GW1 games had a long and involved over-arcing story line to keep you interested and involved all the way to the top of the game. Guild Wars 1 told us some great stories, imho, and I expect as much from GW2. I vote "yes" to the individualized stories and to a fantasy game that allows you to fantasize about becoming the character you'd like to be.