With barely a day remaining until Guild Wars 2 finally launches, I’m actually struggling to concentrate. Something I have begun to wonder though, after Guild Wars 2 vs. Metacritic, was what people feel Guild Wars 2 will fall down on when it does actually come to being reviewed.
I’ll freely admit that I’ve found it incredibly difficult to think of what to criticize Guild Wars 2 for, especially in the face of other MMOG's actually on the market. When I did sit down to write out a list of issues, I stared at a blank page for an hour before writing “minus icon on trait screen”. Not quite what I had in mind when really attempting to find fault.
Having thought about this topic for a little longer (all week actually) I’ve barely added anything additional to the list as most are so incredibly minor or have already been acknowledged by ArenaNet I’m unsure if they are even worth mentioning.
There are some complaints I here regularly so I’ve decided to list them below and include my own thoughts. In the grand scheme of things however these appear tragically minor in comparison to what I’ve encountered in other MMOG’s. The key difference here is I don’t feel most of these issues, because they are so minor, would see me reduce my mark for Guild Wars 2.
Field of View
What I find most interesting about this is how far do people actually want to zoom out or how much do they want to see? ArenaNet have already stated this won’t ever change, to ensure the game feels “actiony”. I personally think the camera is great and provides a plentiful viewing angle while allowing the action the really feel punchy though I appreciate that this is entirely personal preference. I know of many players who love to play with a fish-eye type viewing angle with the camera zoomed completely out.
Only one PvP mode
I can appreciate that some people might feel aggrieved about this, based on the fact they are used to differing types in other MMOG’s (such as Capture the Flag) but what ArenaNet are attempting to create is a balanced PvP system that they can build on. With 4 structured PvP maps for launch, all of which are brilliant, they will no doubt expand from here but with how much fun Control Point matches are (it really does add much needed focus) I’m happy to have just this. Saying that, I am a fan of murder-ball type matches where an individual has to hold onto an object for a large period of time that damages them the longer they hold it, in order to score points.
No “-“on the trait window
This speaks for itself really, but it can be annoying to experiment with builds only having to reset all of them because you’ve gone one point too far. If we’ve got a plus, why not a minus?
Slim Tooltips
This has improved vastly in the last couple of patches but I still feel that more information could be provided to the player. Casting times, total damage or healing figures updated based on your attributes as well as clearer range notification (blacking the skill out when out of range would be much more useful) would be a welcome addition.
Saving Traits/Gearsets
I can be frustrating in structured PvP to not be able to quickly change and save your builds. ArenaNet have already clarified this position stating they are working on it, but for the mean time it is tedious having to reset traits and gear during every change.
Welcome Beginner!
Guild Wars 2 isn’t friendly to MMOG beginners. My brother will merrily attest to that as a virgin to the genre. It’s confusing, absolutely overwhelming and lacks even a simple tutorial (the starter area really isn’t one). What I find interesting here though, is in spite of generic tips that appear to help the player, ArenaNet chose to implement an excellent starting area for the Mists and yet chose not to for the game. Considering new players will have no idea what the Mists is or even how to get there, why isn’t there the equivalent at the beginning of the game before you even get to a starting area? This to me is Guild Wars 2’s biggest floor and I’m hoping that come launch they’ve rectified this if they are truly wanting to reach out to a wider audience.
Lack of First Person View
There’s little more I could add to this. ArenaNet, please implement it! Screenshots demand it!
No Custom Addons
I praise the old gods every time I hear anyone complaining about the lack of addons in Guild Wars 2. I absolutely cannot stand them in any form and I consider that if addons are necessary, the developers have failed in their jobs at creating a workable and intuitive user interface. With changes still being added to the UI (such as the recent screen splash when you are dazed or stunned) it can only continue to improve though it is already great. An ability to move existing windows and independent resize them, similar to Warhammer Online would however be very welcome.
Ranger Pet Woes
In over 12 months I’ve seen only incremental improvements to the pet AI. It has gotten better in recent weeks but is still far, far below where it should be. If a profession is entirely reliant on AI to function it has to be absolutely perfect (or not far from) and yet despite ArenaNet’s polish in so many other areas and as a relatively old profession in terms of development it’s disappointing to be one day away from launch and it still have issues.
Guild Window
The guild interface really isn’t a pleasure to use and isn’t intuitive. A complete overhaul would be more than welcome and a return to Guild Wars 1’s simplicity really wouldn’t do it any harm. Removing unnecessary information and making key tools easily accessible would be very welcome.
This list might look rather frightening (there are many more) but the nature of MMOG's and vast investment needed means they have to launch at some stage and if it takes only a couple of patches to rectify all the above (which I've no doubt it will) we would surely be on for a record of some sort.
What I am keen to hear however is what are your biggest concerns and do you think your rating of Guild Wars 2 would be harmed because of them?
Comments
I'd rate the lack of tutorial/clear intro as huge. I fear this might become a very big minus point for GW2. I can already see some major gaming magazines/blogs/etc diving into GW2 for the first time, and getting hopelessly confused. As a result, much less positive reviews and screaming fans about how feature x is actually implemented but the reviewer simply missing it. Which in turn can be blamed back again to ANET for a very unwelcoming game.
It feels a bit like The Witcher 2 for me. A brilliant gem of a game, but it just tries way to hard to not let you love it.
The game is just now coming out and with so few issues, that speaks highly of the people behind the game. Changes will come and the issues will be sorted out, but it took years for other games to become the experiences you see today (post release that is). I'm excited to be a part of an experience where the game is pretty darn good from the ground up and additional work will just add to the already great experience.
Viryn Valdoran - Human Ranger | Blackgate server
Lack of tutorials will be subject reviewers will hate on indeed.
good tooltips is MUST
Its ridiculous that Pet AI still sucks. Ranger will absolutely not be my first character, hoping they will patch them before i try the ranger.
We all know by know that guild wars 2 isn't pay to win but i still find it stupid that you can pay to look cooler. End game gear looks absolutely lame.
"The individual is handicapped by coming face to face with a conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists."
Snap Dragon Tier 2! Best in game armour of any MMOG ever! :D
I think you've hit the two biggest issues that I have with GW2 when you pointed out the lack of a first person view and the lack of a minus sign on the trait window. We need the first person view for more than just screenshots. I was navigating my way through some narrow hallways and twisting stairs in the last Stress Test, and it was moderately annoying to try to see where I was going. Of course screen shots in the 3rd person over-the-shoulder view are less than optimal, and there are plenty of folks who really love to play in the first person view, but if I'd been running from a mob down those twisty stairs, I'd have probably died, which is more than a cosmetic issue.
On the other hand - the very paucity of negative issues that you were able to come up with is in itself a great commentary on what the designers have done with this game.
Now the only problem is that it's still one day, 6 hours and 41 minutes until the servers start coming online for Headstart. Sheesh...that's too long!!
My two big ones are lack of custom chat channels and availability of transmutation stones.
I don't really think the guild representation system is robust enough to cover the coordination and community benefits of having customized chat channels that anyone can join. The exclusive nature of only having one channel available at a time (and those channels being limited to 100 base members) makes me think of Linkshells from FFXI; and frankly, I don't really want anything from GW2 to remind me of FFXI.
Transmutation stones bug me because (with the exception of GW1 players with HoM points) they're all we get for armor customization. And when you look at them that way, and ask how they stack up to other MMOs for appearance customization... well, I can't think of any game that actually HAS an appearance customization feature that's worse than GW2's. And that mostly comes down to the fact that you can only get stones atm by completing entire maps, and then you get a chance at gaining 3 - for completing a map that probably took you 10-15 levels and gave you upwards of 8 new pieces of gear in the process. I'm at the point where I'm seriously considering avoiding the cash shop altogether, just because I find it gross that, by current trends, you can only customize a portion of your armor every 10-20 levels without using the gem store.
I think if LotRO tried to charge all of their players to unlock half of their appearance slots every 10 levels, it would be seen as pretty gross and greedy. Which is a shame, because I really want to give ANet all of my money in exchange for other stuff. (And I say all players because it's not like I can give ANet a monthly sub to avoid transmutation stones altogether.)
- no tutorial
- PET AI for Ranger
-Camera control
But for a new game this is very good. Look at TSW or TOR both had many bugs or still do. WOW has been out for years and shows it (not my favorite game but very smooth playing).
I think all of that are pretty minor points compared to a big chunk of people who will - in complete ignorance of all what the devs have said and revealed the past couple of months - try to rush to max level just to see that their standard MMO PvE stuff aka Raids won't be there and that the event systems and explorable mode dungeons at lv 80 are the 'top tier PvE' activities.
Of course I haven't seen how difficult the events in Orr/Arah are, but I am intrigued to say that they won't require a full 20 man raid group. At that point, I sincerely hope that people begin to either be satisfied with the more casual PvE approach of GW2 or begin to play tPvP / WvW.
I really like to see how that ends up. Its pretty much the breaking point for most MMOs: People hitting max level.
Stormc
That is my concern as well, what awaits everyone at lvl cap. There just isn't the normal things to do that you would find in other MMOs. I think the dungeons, PVP, and WvW will be fun but how quickly will it get old? Personally I like small groups over say larger Raid groups so the dungeons will be very appealing. I'll be playing WoW once MoP comes out so jumping between the two games should keep me from burning out. Plus a dash of LoL will keep things spicy.
What about WvW and tournament structured PvP as 'end game content'? WvW is ever adapting and constantly changing. That alone is enormous amounts of content.
Nice article and some really good points.
I'm often surprised how many MMOs don't pay enough attention to the tutorial.
@manylaughs
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