ArenaNet has been busy again with a strong presence at this year’s Comic Con where they answered a number of user questions, as well as a feature on their company blog involving character progression and leveling in Guild Wars 2. These articles contain a number of surprises, but none of them quite so interesting as the revelation that there will indeed be a level cap in Guild Wars 2 and it will be set at level 80.
It’s also mentioned that level progression in Guild Wars 2 will be entirely linear, so advancing from level 79 to 80 will take no longer than going from level 9 to 10. This may seem like a curious and overly casual design decision at first, but it’s really ArenaNet’s way of living up to Guild Wars’ no-grind legacy. Instead of advancing in order to attain some magic number, players will advance to see new content. Levels are there for whoever cares, but they’re not the focal point of the game, contrary to most games in the genre.
The newly improved dye system is also covered in further detail, while the fact that players can wear most NPC clothing also comes as a surprise. All this and a lot more information was revealed last week so be sure to delve into my concise overview of all these new revelations below. Stay tuned to GameDrone for constant updates on Guild Wars 2, but also be sure to keep an eye on the on the official Guild Wars 2 website and ArenaNet company blog for the latest information and media.
Character Progression and Leveling
- Guild Wars 2 will have a maximum character level of 80.
- The leveling process will be flat, so it will not take longer to reach each subsequent level.
- The level cap may be the end of the road in terms of numbers, but much like Guild Wars it’s merely the beginning in terms of content.
- Aside from straight-up leveling there are numerous other means of character progression: achievements, crafting, dungeons, items, skill collection, trait collection, etc.
- This accessible system will ensure that long grindy progression will not be the driving force behind player’s desire to advance in the game. Instead, you’ll want to see what’s over the next hill and know what’s in store for you in your personal storyline.
- Also supporting this reduction in the grindy nature of modern day MMORPGs is the dynamic events system, which allows players to roam the world and constantly stumble across new things even when they’ve long hit level 80.
- The dynamic events and personal story systems also combine to make alts a less grindy and repetitive prospect: each character will have a different experience.
The focus on content over artifical progression does away with most of the grind in the genre
General
- The controls will differ from Guild Wars and be more direct for the players. This likely implies the removal of the point-and-click movement option, but that has not been confirmed.
- All races in Guild Wars 2 will allow players to play with any of the professions in the game, so there are no racial restrictions in this regard.
- There will be references to current events on the continents of Cantha and Elona in Guild Wars 2.
- Most NPC outfits that you see in Guild Wars 2 are also wearable by players.
- There will be up to three dye channels per piece of clothing, which will allow for even greater color variety in player’s outfits.
- When dyeing an article of clothing the material is taken into account so that the color saturation is appropriate to the material.
- Some environmental objects can be used as weapons, such as rocks and broken planks which were previously revealed. Jars of bees now join that list as a prickly sort of throwing weapon.
- ArenaNet promises even more investment into social tools, guilds and guild management than in the original game. That’s exciting because Guild Wars already has very extensive guild support with such things as customizable guild halls, guild chat, guild storage, player ranks, guild tabards, etc. It will be interesting to see what specifics ArenaNet will reveal in terms of guild support in the future.
Should you have missed out on the wealth of Guild Wars 2 information that’s been made public already, then you may wish to read up on the design manifesto, combat system and elementalist profession, the warrior profession and traits system #1 & #2, the ranger profession #1 & #2 & #3, dynamic events system #1 & #2, the personal story system, death and healing, non-combat activities #1 and #2 and activities and travel in Tyria.
Loading ...