Guild Wars 2: diving in
Let me get this out of the way, because it’s important and, as I played the beta of Guild Wars 2, it was something I realized I’d nearly forgotten: Guild Wars 2 is a massively multiplayer online RPG.
That probably sounds obvious to a lot of people. I mean, it’s obvious to me on an intellectual level. But after being continually disappointed by MMOs, and fondly recalling the few that do things differently — DC Universe Online, Rift, the original Guild Wars — I think I piled too many expectations onto Guild Wars 2. So as I was playing, and as I sank into that comfortable groove, I started to smell something familiar: ennui.
Guild Wars 2, for all the cool stuff it does, will not change your opinion on MMOs. It’s very much a part of the genre. It is not the Second Coming of MMOs. It is not even the Reformation; a lot of things I like in Guild Wars 2, I’ve seen in other MMOs. It is, however, an epiphany. What I saw while playing over the last few days was a very good game, easily more polished than many MMOs at launch, and full of exciting content, bold design decisions, and beautiful artwork. It does things differently enough, smart enough, and gorgeous enough that the occasional whiff of ennui doesn’t make me any less enthusiastic about playing when it’s released.
After the jump, you’ve never seen a quest log quite like this Continue reading →
