Guild Wars 2 Final Beta Weekend Post-Mortom

 The final beta weekend has come and gone. And with it we got a glimpse of the last two races in the game, some new features and ui adjustments, and a slew of other things added, alot coming from the suggestions from players of the previous betas.

So how is it faring? There will be some polish put on the game before release, but with a month of development time left, it's safe to say that this beta weekend will be indicitive of what the final build of the game will be.

And I couldn't be more excited!

This game has far exceeded my expectations. The game just "feels" good. The world is beautiful and interesting to explore. The gameplay is simple but engaging and fun. The sound track will blow your mind in it's awesomeness. They've just hit every note perfectly. 

I could write paragraph after paragraph of why this game is amazing. But instead I'm working on piecing together some video so show you why I love it. 

Not sure how long it will take me as I'm using a new type of video editing software I've never used before. But when it's done check back here and you'll see what I mean! :D

It's All In The Details

Since there is about a month lull in games I'm interested in coming out (I'm looking at you Guild Wars 2 and Borderlands 2), I picked up, mostly on a whim, The Secret World. The Secret World (TSW), is a new MMO by Funcom (Of Anarchy Online and Conan Online fame) set in modernish times. There are a lot of good ideas at play in this game. Most of which I will blog about here in the near future. It's not perfect mind you, and won't even come with in viewing distance of the MMO throne currently occupied by WoW. But it is a solid entry into the genre and really does innovate in certain areas (and not enough in others, but another time... another time).

There's one thing about TSW that I found I really enjoyed that I never noticed before. It's one of those things about games that we often take for granted, and don't, at least consciously, realize how much it truly does add to the experience.

Details.

That's an incredibly broad term. But in this instance I'm referring to the amount of extra care given to give the world created that feeling of being real. Let me give you a couple of examples. 

Near the very start of TSW, you find yourself in a city (in my case London). There are various shops open, with a few people and NPCs running around. What really sets this apart is that when you go into some of these shops you can read the menus. That's right someone took the time to actually CREATE a menu in a shop. You can't even buy things in this cafe! Yet someone still took the time to create a fake menu to give the impression that this place is real. 

It was after I saw that I started noticing more detail about the world. There's a music shop that has records in it you can look at. There's a market that has various fruits and items out on display. There's posters on the wall with information about things that don't at all pertain to anything in the game. 

I started thinking about other games that have done this. Fallout 3, with it's various areas telling it's own story (I'm thinking specifically of the other vaults). Grand Theft Auto 4 and it's fully realized city with various shops and buildings. Assassins Creed (any of them) and the amount of detail used to re-create a historic period. 

All the small details, from a trashcan tipped over on the streets of GTA 4, or the simple clothes a beggar wears as he, yet again, impedes my chase of a target I'm supposed to assassinate in Assassins Creed. These details are, to me, what breathes life into the games we love. I'm sure any of the games I just mentioned would have been just as enjoyable to play if they had removed some of the little details. But it's those little extras that immersed me in the world and continue to make me just stop and look around.

What are some of the games you've played that you've noticed the small details? Any particular details stand out? I want to hear about what kind of small things put in a game has gotten your attention! 

The Half-Life of Modern FPS's

The gaming industry like many entertainment industries brings a lot to the consumer every year. Each year we are given a wide range of games that vary across a wide spectrum of genres. And like many of the other entertainment industries, gaming have its "blockbuster" titles that, on the very name alone, are guaranteed to sell millions of copies day one. When you think of these, you think of the Halos, Modern Warfares, World of Warcrafts (well the expansions at least), Maddens, etc. etc. 

In the past few years we've seen more and more the gaming industry trending towards the "safe bets" of continuing franchise of popular titles. And while from here on I'm going to focusing on the First Person Shooter (FPS) genre, this topic could easily be expanded to encompass gaming on a whole.  While from a business perspective I understand the reasons for continuing a popular and established franchise. I can't help but wonder...

How much longer can it go on?

How many more Modern Warfares can we stomach? How many more Halos? This isn't a bash on these games specifically. And even if it was, it's not like they need defending. The numbers these games churn out every release speak for themselves. But in that very fact lays my point. 

Every release of a popular FPS, shows consistent if not growing sales. While the games themselves, to me, don't seem to be stretching themselves beyond the boundaries of what they know to be successful. But then I suppose they don't have to. And why would they? They already know they are going to sell millions based on the predefined formula. And from a business side, it makes perfect sense. But from an artistic creative side...

It's stagnating innovation.

What I mean by this, is that while these games continue to bank millions on these games, I believe over all there will be less attempts at new and creative (and possibly terrible) ideas in gaming.

This is bad.

No it won't cripple the industry. And it won't keep games from being made. But I am afraid it will burn people out. And then amazingly creative games like Portal (1&2) or possibly Dishonored (game looks amazing), will appeal less overall to people. Or worse, games like those won't even be attempted because the next Modern Warfare only did 16 zillion dollars as opposed to the expected 20 zillion and so now they have to cut spending to other projects.

What I'm saying (if I'm saying anything) is don't stop making the blockbusters. We need them. But I would love to see a little more variety and distinction thrown into the mix. How about you put that next Modern FPS shooter on hold and work on something that no one’s seen before? I really believe that if we add more variety and flavor, we might avoid that burn out that could seriously damage the gaming industry. 

 

What do you think? Am I the only one who's craving variety? Or are you content to see Halo 16 and Modern Warfare: Super Modern Ultra 4? Sound off and tell me I'm full of it! ;)

Top 6 reasons I'm excited for Guild Wars 2

Guild Wars 2, slated to be released August 28th, has got me excited. They are trying new and different things in the MMO world. And you know what. Most of it's working fantasticly. I dare say they might change the face of MMO gaming as we know it for the better. Why 6 reason? Because f*** you, that's why.

1) No monetary pressure: Let me get this straight, I pay the same ammount as I would for nearly any other recent MMO out there but after that I don't have to pay a dime unless I want to?!?! What kind of black magic is this!?! But seriously, this is awesome. I have an MMO on call I can play when I want but with out the pressure of feeling like I'm not getting my money's worth if I'm paying a monthly fee. If only relationships were this simple...

2) We're all friends!!!: You can call it being carebear centric if you want, but not having to compete with other players in the open world is fairly awesome. Helping others is not only NOT punished but actually REWARDED!?!?! I don't have to fight other players for resource nodes!?!?! I can res anyone and get rewarded for that too!?!?! These are great honking ideas! When I want to harm fellow players, there are places for that! PvP battlegrounds! Why isn't this done more often?

3) Trebuchets: You get to fire a mother f***ing trebuchet... that's just... I don't even..

4) You can't over level an area: On the surface this might seem like a bad thing. Just by going into an area I go from a level 80 powerhouse to a level 1 tool shead!? Ok yes, so going through and murdering every mother loving creature by sneezing on it is now no longer an option. On the other hand, you now have a ton more content to explore that will still be somewhat challenging no matter what level you are. This is great! You get the option to have content you might otherwise skip over now become interesting and rewarding. I am convinced that the employees at arenanet are all Mensa members at this point.

5) The "Holy" trinity is gone!: LF Tank? Not any more your aren't! LF healer? Nope, though if you want to ask someone to just heal, pretty much anyone can. Now everyone just kills things. They heal themselves and are responsible for mitigating their own damage taking. No more roles. Just be an awesome player. Fantastic! 

6) It's not World of Warcraft: Sorry but, I'm about done with this game. It feels like WoW is turning into that house guest who won't leave. Yes, it was nice having you here, but it's getting late and I need to be getting to sleep... 

These are just a few of the reasons I'm excited about it. There are tons more. I could go into, and probably will at a later date! What excites you about Guild Wars 2?