Guild Wars 2

It’s time to fix GAME TIME.

I am tired of stepping out of LA into Gendarran Fields and going from darkest night to brightest day. Time “zones” in the game need to be more consistent. Please ANet, do your best to organize the various world zones into a coordinated schedule.

Since the sun moves BACKWARDS in Tyria (west to east) the sun would rise in Rata Sum first, then work its way east to the Grove and Divinity’s Reach, then LA, followed by Hoelbrak, then the Black Citadel. (ALL regions should be in sync. I am only using the major cities for an example).

We understand that the current map is NOT the whole world. It won’t be midnight in the Grove while it is Noon in Hoelbrak. Depending on how large the world really is, the whole map may be in one stage or another of NIGHT at the same time. I leave that to the game designers to figure out since they have an idea of the full scope of their world.

ALSO, in addition to the local or server time on our mini maps that is already displayable, it would be nice to have a rough indicator of Game Time that we can see. Suggestion:

Midnight to 3AM game time, display Darkest Night
3AM to 6AM game time display Early Morning
6AM to 9AM game time display Morning
9AM to 12 Noon game time display Late Morning
12 Noon to 3PM game time display Afternoon
3PM to 6PM game time display Late Afternoon
6PM to 9PM game time display Evening
9PM to 12 Midnight game time display Late Evening

At exactly Noon and Midnight we should hear each city play their “theme music” that you hear now at seemingly random intervals. (Or MAYBE even at the beginning of each time period?)

I think this would be a GREAT way to schedule holiday events. You can tell everyone that the Fireworks will begin by the fountain in LA in “Late Evening” and we would be coordinated real-worldwide without having to guess and convert real-life time zones. And with coordinated game time, people in far away zones would have some idea when to hustle back to LA to catch those fireworks!

I definitely think that would increase the immersion! It definitely needs to have proper day/night cycle through out the maps!

Additionally, it would be cool to see some time-of-day changes to the wildlife. At night the bats come out and the birds go to sleep. Swamps can be full of crocs and snakes during the day, and wandering undead and will-o-the-wisps at night. A ranger might have to wait until dark to tame an Owl or Jaguar.

Yes please. One of the most jarring things in this game is going from the dead of night to mid-day just by walking through a zone.

I’ll +1 anything that increases immersion, and the game needs alot more dynamic systems if it wants to claim its living and breathing.

Just went to my Home District in Divinity’s Reach… it was night time while the rest of the city was in full daylight.

Oop! Ack! Thpppt!

Random intervals? You have long periods without background music?…

Player Character.9467:

Random intervals? You have long periods without background music?…

Nonono… this is not the background music.

Every once in awhile in Hoelbrak you hear the opening notes from The Norn Theme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAOe-WNiQLY) played on bass-sounding horns, kind of like those long Swiss Alphorns. In the Grove you occasionally hear what might be a harp playing the opening notes of a different tune. In Divinity’s Reach it’s a more “Human” instrument and a more “martial” sound if I remember correctly. These tunes play as a game sound effect, not background music. It is almost as if each race had their own form of town church bells ringing out the hour. You can even hear them OUTSIDE of the town if you are nearby.

Anyhoo… I think it would be cool if they actually MEANT something. If not GAME time, then perhaps if they chimed on the REAL hour? Something to make you look at the time periodically. (It beats the GW1 “You have been playing for 3 hours. Please take a break”.)

Ill promote anything that adds to immersion. +1

I agree with consistent time zones, though I think the music is fine as it is.

Hamfast.8719:

Just went to my Home District in Divinity’s Reach… it was night time while the rest of the city was in full daylight.

Oop! Ack! Thpppt!

To be fair, a lot of the personal story instances have to happen at a certain time of day or night.

Olvendred.3027:

I agree with consistent time zones, though I think the music is fine as it is.

Once again, this is NOT the background music! I love the background music! I am talking about the FIRST FEW NOTES of the song played every once in awhile as a sound effect. You’ve never been in town long enough to hear it? I wish I could find a proper link for you. I just think it would be nice if it signified something rather than be mere random background noise. Calling attention to the time of day seems a natural, useful function for it.

Olvendred.3027:

Hamfast.8719:

Just went to my Home District in Divinity’s Reach… it was night time while the rest of the city was in full daylight.

Oop! Ack! Thpppt!

To be fair, a lot of the personal story instances have to happen at a certain time of day or night.

I wasn’t entering a personal storyline at the time. I was just visiting my foster family for old times sake, and time jumped. But if a personal story requires it to be night, I understand. I am not so attuned to roleplaying that I want the game to tell me “please come back at night” before I can proceed with my personal story. I am fine with time inexplicably passing for the sake of storylines.

Yeah come to think of it this does seem to happen alot.

I just noted this on WIKI:

A day/night cycle is present in the game. Day lasts for 70 minutes, night for 40 minutes and the transitions between the two take 5 minutes each, comprising a 2-hour cycle. A number of mechanics can be linked to this cycle, including events, NPCs, and equipment effects.

I never realized night was shorter. That kind of messes with my proposed time period names. Perhaps this would work:

5 minutes of DAWN
20 minutes of MORNING
30 minutes of AFTERNOON
20 minutes of EVENING
5 minutes of DUSK
40 minutes of NIGHT

…And play the cultural city chord at midnight and midday of course!