Today
marks a significant date in the development cycle for href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2">Guild
Wars
2.
One of the biggest questions
asked of ArenaNet ever since the game
was first announced has been, what kind of PvP will be in the game?
While we’ve known for quite some time now that there are two
core types of PvP in Guild
Wars 2 – Structured
and World vs.
World vs. World - the specifics of how the system works or how it
differs from GW1 PvP have been under tight wraps.

That all changes this week as
players will be given their first look at
GW2 PvP live on the show floor at href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/events/gamescom/2011">gamescom,
and again next week at PAX
Prime where fans will be able to sign up to participate in PvP matches
in the Logitech booth.

New Guild Wars 2 PvP Details
Emerge

To give us a primer on
structured PvP in GW2, the official site for the game was updated with a closer look at the two available styles for structured PvP, and how the system
differs from what we’ve experienced in GW1.

There are two main types of
structured PvP: pickup (Hot Join PvP) and
Tournament Play:

Hot Join PvP

“Hot
join” games are the casual side of structured
PvP. By nature, fighting other players is never going to be as casual
as fighting PvE monsters, but this is a place to experiment with
builds, learn the maps, and try out a PvP game against other players.
Hot join PvP can be played from 1v1 all the way up to 10v10.

Players can browse through a
list of available games, each displaying
the current map, the number of players, etc. Players can search by
server population or friends list. Even if a game is in progress, you
can join or leave at any time. If one side loses players, the servers
can auto-balance the number of players on the teams. Once the current
round ends, the server loads the next map in the rotation, players can
reselect teams, and the fight starts again. This kind of setup allows
players to find favorite servers and build online communities by
playing more than one game with the same settings and people.

Tournament Play

Tournaments are the more
organized side of structured PvP. Tournament
play is 5v5, but matches take place on the same maps that are used for
hot join play. Tournaments will run with varying frequency, and
different reward levels will allow some players to get their feet wet
in the smaller tournaments while more-organized teams battle it out in
the larger tournaments.

Tournaments come in the
following flavors:

• Pickup Tournaments - These
  single-elimination tournaments wait for 8
  teams to join before starting. Once they start, they go through 3
  rounds of eliminations, with winners receiving qualifier points.
• Monthly Tournaments - For
  monthly tournaments, you’ll need a
  certain amount of qualifier points to join.
• Yearly Tournaments - These
  grand tournaments feature the winners from
  the monthly tournaments slugging it out for the right to call
  themselves the best PvP players of the year.
• Player-Run Tournaments -
  These tournaments will be customized by players,
  allowing for great flexibility and unique bragging rights.

The Conquest Game Type

Guild
Wars 2 PvP features different
maps that all dramatically alter a
single gameplay type called Conquest. Conquest involves teams competing
over a certain number of capture points which improves your
team’s score, as does killing enemies. The team to reach the
score limit first, or with the highest score when the time runs out
wins the match.

Conquest also includes a number
of secondary objectives:

We vary this game type by
creating important secondary
objectives. These can be trebuchets, repair kits, and destructible
environments, like those in the Battle of Kyhlo map. In another map,
for instance, a secondary objective takes the form of a giant dragon
flying overhead, blasting portions of the map and killing players who
are fighting below.

Secondary objectives allow us
to create an environment where you always
understand the basic objectives, no matter which map you’re
playing, but they also let us create radically different high-level
strategies through the unique mechanics of each map.

Storing Templates for Builds

Players will also be able to
store templates for builds. This has been
a staple in Guild Wars
for a long time now, so it would make sense to
adapt the system for storing builds in GW2. Hopefully we’ll
get to see how this system will work at one of the events this month,
as it will give us some more insights as to what officially constitutes
a “build” in GW2. I would imagine that it would
factor in weapon sets, utility skill choices, and traits, along with
any profession-specific mechanics such as the necromancer’s
Death Shroud ability and accompanying skills.

In terms of PvP builds, the
game will also save your last PvP setup:

When a player takes a
character into PvP, they are granted access to
all the necessary skills, items, etc. Characters are set to the maximum
level, putting everyone on an even playing field. This makes player
skill more important than time invested in a particular character. When
you take your character back to the PvE environment, you return to the
skills and gear you had there, but the game will save your last PvP
setup. You’ll also be able to store templates for builds.
This way, you can try out new stuff in PvP but still easily return to
your familiar builds.

Each profession will load
into PvP with a starter template that allows
new players to have a competent build without needing to delve into
detailed skill selection, item selection, or other tweaks. However,
these more detailed customization options will be available for players
who are more comfortable with the system.

A New Downed Mode Mechanic
in PvP

An interesting change has
been made to the way the downed state
functions in PvP. It sounds as though the usual downed state abilities
can be used by the player that they’ll have access to in PvE,
and can still be revived by other players like usual. However, when an
enemy player comes within range they will be given a prompt to
“Finish Them!” Once this becomes an option, hitting
the F key “starts the animation for a finishing move that
sends your opponent straight to their defeated state.”

Team Ten Ton Hammer is in Germany this week for href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/events/gamescom/2011">gamescom
2011, so stay tuned
for more details on Guild
Wars 2 PvP from the event. In
the meantime,
be sure to head over to the official site for Guild Wars for more details: Player vs. Player Overview. And don’t forget to
share your thoughts on the first details about GW2 PvP in the comments
below!