The newest video to be featured on the official Guild Wars 2 site is the most in-depth and detailed one to date. In it, developers and artists discuss their vision for the game, as well as it’s place within the genre.
Mike O’Brien, ArenaNet’s founder, starts off the commentary with a unique pitch, “if you love MMOs, you’ll want to check out Guild Wars 2, and if you hate MMOs, you’ll really want to check out Guild Wars 2.” An interesting thought, as O’Brien stresses that the game will defy existing conventions, and reach out to those who may have had little interest in the genre due to it’s repetitive, non-personal nature.
Colin Johanson, a Game Designer working on GW2, talks about player impact; by making key decisions, players will set off a permanent chain of events within the game world. When an NPC says that Centaurs are attacking a village, they are attacking a village. No more idle mobs wandering around waiting to be mindlessly killed, only to respawn five minutes later. Another game designer, Roe Soesbee, expands on recurring characters and their shifting opinion of the player as he/she makes decisions that affect the environment. These “opinions” have consequences of their own, too.
The second half of the video features new gameplay footage, along with Daniel Dociu’s thoughts on the artwork and concept behind the Guild Wars 2 stylization. The hype behind this game is palpable!