Guild Wars 2

Earlier on in my Guild Wars 2 experience (as early as the Beta), it has come to my attention that the day and night cycle is very short, I wonder why it’s this short.

Sure, I can understand that people want to see Tyria during the day, as well as during the night and don’t want to play 6 hours+ to see the change. But an 80-40 minute day/night cycle seems a bit overkill no?

I don’t want to pull the WoW-card, or compare Guild Wars 2 to another MMORPG, and I won’t. But I feel that such a short cycle closes a door for yet another very interesting aspect of this MMO. But back to my point; What’s wrong with a 24-hour day and night cycle? (I’ll answer your retort in the comment-section)

it’s too long and disallows you from seeing day AND night depending on when can you normally play.

Maybe because the average player won’t be able to play long enough and see changes in the day cycle if you were to use the 24 hour period.

But really, 80 minutes day and only 40 minutes night?
Tyria by night can be equally, or even more beautiful. Think of all the lights!
Or can’t there at least be a 24 hour cycle in the cities alone?
wink: roleplayers.

Vol.5241:

Maybe because the average player won’t be able to play long enough and see changes in the day cycle if you were to use the 24 hour period.

Well, yes. That’s what I said in my first post. It’s not really a good argument because there are equally as much, or at least a considerable amount of players who -do- want a longer day and night cycle. But yes, you talk about average player. But what about when you log on at 22:00 (10PM) and you’re in a town like Divinities Reach, and it’s broad daylight? I mean c’mon -if I’m, say a roleplayer- I would like to be able to play in a world that doesn’t have a sun circling the world of Tyria in a 80 minute day.

Sure, I know Anet has offered realism up to compromise, which is grand for the “Average player” but to make it as short as 80 to 40 ratio is just overdoing it. 4 Hours, even 2 hours would have been fine too, no?

Isn’t a short cycle like this equally crazy like a 24-hour cycle? I’m happy to make-do with only 1/4th of a “real” cycle.

Please, tell me what you think?

I personally find a real life day-night cycle adds to the gaming experience. Nothing feels more real than playing at night and your game being actually night as well instead of bright daylight. It feels off and kind of creates this barrier between game and player. Because you’re inevitably shown you’re still playing a game.

It’s harder to ‘escape’ into the MMO game world.

Sthomas.8563:

Vol.5241:

Maybe because the average player won’t be able to play long enough and see changes in the day cycle if you were to use the 24 hour period.

Well, yes. That’s what I said in my first post. It’s not really a good argument because there are equally as much, or at least a considerable amount of players who -do- want a longer day and night cycle. But yes, you talk about average player. But what about when you log on at 22:00 (10PM) and you’re in a town like Divinities Reach, and it’s broad daylight? I mean c’mon -if I’m, say a roleplayer- I would like to be able to play in a world that doesn’t have a sun circling the world of Tyria in a 80 minute day.

Sure, I know Anet has offered realism up to compromise, which is grand for the “Average player” but to make it as short as 80 to 40 ratio is just overdoing it. 4 Hours, even 2 hours would have been fine too, no?

Isn’t a short cycle like this equally crazy like a 24-hour cycle? I’m happy to make-do with only 1/4th of a “real” cycle.

Please, tell me what you think?

I doubt a huge majority even care about the cycle. It’s a non-issue for me personally, and there are more concerns in the game than the time cycle.

It’s pointless to discuss the merits of a 2 hour or 4 hour cycle as opposed to a 1 hour one, it’s entirely subjective.

On a similar note, how exactly would you handle people from different time zones? Sure you can lock the cycle to PST time, but then you’ll also have people from other time zones upset.

Overall, I think it’s not really something that needs a whole lot of consideration. They just decided to have a fixed, short interval and stuck with it.

I would like to see shorter day hours in the winter time frame to somewhat resemble the world being farther from the sun in the winter. I have rarely noticed the night period but when have I love looking at the stars in the Tyrian sky or fighting the Shadow Behemoth at night.

Vol.5241:

Sthomas.8563:

Vol.5241:

Maybe because the average player won’t be able to play long enough and see changes in the day cycle if you were to use the 24 hour period.

Well, yes. That’s what I said in my first post. It’s not really a good argument because there are equally as much, or at least a considerable amount of players who -do- want a longer day and night cycle. But yes, you talk about average player. But what about when you log on at 22:00 (10PM) and you’re in a town like Divinities Reach, and it’s broad daylight? I mean c’mon -if I’m, say a roleplayer- I would like to be able to play in a world that doesn’t have a sun circling the world of Tyria in a 80 minute day.

Sure, I know Anet has offered realism up to compromise, which is grand for the “Average player” but to make it as short as 80 to 40 ratio is just overdoing it. 4 Hours, even 2 hours would have been fine too, no?

Isn’t a short cycle like this equally crazy like a 24-hour cycle? I’m happy to make-do with only 1/4th of a “real” cycle.

Please, tell me what you think?

I doubt a huge majority even care about the cycle. It’s a non-issue for me personally, and there are more concerns in the game than the time cycle.

It’s pointless to discuss the merits of a 2 hour or 4 hour cycle as opposed to a 1 hour one, it’s entirely subjective.

On a similar note, how exactly would you handle people from different time zones? Sure you can lock the cycle to PST time, but then you’ll also have people from other time zones upset.

Overall, I think it’s not really something that needs a whole lot of consideration. They just decided to have a fixed, short interval and stuck with it.

In a perfect world you would be able to choose if you want a 24 hour cycle or the 80-40 cycle. But I doubt Anet would go to such an extent to please its gamers.

And well yeah, it’s a good question. If I may compare to other MMO’s, there have been plenty that use the PST or Central fixed time without complaint. But granted, it might prove difficult to go without raging gamers to change it this far in.

Personally I like the day/night cycle as it is.

Like a lot of people I only get to play about 2 hours a day and always at around the same time. If the cycle was any longer, especially if it was 24 hours, I’d basically be stuck in perpetual day or night which would be extremely boring.

Josh.8154:

I would like to see shorter day hours in the winter time frame to somewhat resemble the world being farther from the sun in the winter. I have rarely noticed the night period but when have I love looking at the stars in the Tyrian sky or fighting the Shadow Behemoth at night.

If I remember correctly the continent of Tyria, at least the southern half where we are, is not that far from the equator (which is just below the island of Istan in Elona). So any difference in day length between the summer and winter would be fairly minimal.

Since WoW introduced it, I have to admit I prefer a 24 hour cycle, because even if it’s technically less realistic, it’s more immersive.

Taking it a step further and making the length of the day/night change in accordance with the seasons would be even more awesome.

Don’t forget that there are weapons and armors (as well as food buffs, etc.) that are affected by the day/night cycle. That’s a factor to consider.

I wouldn’t say that there’s really any night cycle at all, since it doesn’t really ever get dark. The only way I can generally tell that it’s supposed to be night is when my sylvari’s bioluminescence kicks in. The ambient light level of the world is pretty much unchanged.

Blacklight.2871:

I wouldn’t say that there’s really any night cycle at all, since it doesn’t really ever get dark. The only way I can generally tell that it’s supposed to be night is when my sylvari’s bioluminescence kicks in. The ambient light level of the world is pretty much unchanged.

Yeah I agree that it really doesn’t get dark enough at night time.

Blacklight.2871:

I wouldn’t say that there’s really any night cycle at all, since it doesn’t really ever get dark. The only way I can generally tell that it’s supposed to be night is when my sylvari’s bioluminescence kicks in. The ambient light level of the world is pretty much unchanged.

Good point… it would be a nice touch if the night was a bit darker than it is now.

Sthomas.8563:

In a perfect world you would be able to choose if you want a 24 hour cycle or the 80-40 cycle. But I doubt Anet would go to such an extent to please its gamers.

And well yeah, it’s a good question. If I may compare to other MMO’s, there have been plenty that use the PST or Central fixed time without complaint. But granted, it might prove difficult to go without raging gamers to change it this far in.

Not only that, but there are so many other variables that you need to watch out for. How about weapons that change according to day/night? Dynamic lighting? Events that depend on day/night cycle (if there are any)? It just gets very complicated and it pulls resources away from bug fixing.

Blacklight.2871:

I wouldn’t say that there’s really any night cycle at all, since it doesn’t really ever get dark. The only way I can generally tell that it’s supposed to be night is when my sylvari’s bioluminescence kicks in. The ambient light level of the world is pretty much unchanged.

Very true!

Vol.5241:

Sthomas.8563:

In a perfect world you would be able to choose if you want a 24 hour cycle or the 80-40 cycle. But I doubt Anet would go to such an extent to please its gamers.

And well yeah, it’s a good question. If I may compare to other MMO’s, there have been plenty that use the PST or Central fixed time without complaint. But granted, it might prove difficult to go without raging gamers to change it this far in.

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Not only that, but there are so many other variables that you need to watch out for. How about weapons that change according to day/night? Dynamic lighting? Events that depend on day/night cycle (if there are any)? It just gets very complicated and it pulls resources away from bug fixing.

You make a fair point indeed.
How would you feel about having a longer, if not full day and night cycle in cities?

Sthomas.8563:

Vol.5241:

Sthomas.8563:

In a perfect world you would be able to choose if you want a 24 hour cycle or the 80-40 cycle. But I doubt Anet would go to such an extent to please its gamers.

And well yeah, it’s a good question. If I may compare to other MMO’s, there have been plenty that use the PST or Central fixed time without complaint. But granted, it might prove difficult to go without raging gamers to change it this far in.

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Not only that, but there are so many other variables that you need to watch out for. How about weapons that change according to day/night? Dynamic lighting? Events that depend on day/night cycle (if there are any)? It just gets very complicated and it pulls resources away from bug fixing.

You make a fair point indeed.
How would you feel about having a longer, if not full day and night cycle in cities?

I don’t like full day/and night cycles. I’d prefer a 12 hour cycle, but again it’s not really a concern.

Probably because, as is, it’s very hard to tell the difference between day/night without looking up.

I don’t have a problem with the duration but rather display of it, night doesn’t really feel like night, and there are no proper transitions with dawn and dusk- also it’s random throughout zones :/

I think a 2 hour cycle as it is fit’s nicely into a variety of playstyles. I would definitely not want to see Lions Arch only by sunlight if I happen to log in on a sunday afternoon.

Then you have to factor in the real timezones. What may be realistic for you (if you are in the same timezone as the server) might be totally off for others with a +/- 8 hour difference.

Next thing would be longer nights in winter, shorter nights in summer…

The only thing I would like is to actually be able to tell the difference better, but then that would inconvenience others (can’t see the mobs, it’s too dark). There was a long discussion about moria being too dark in Lotro, some loved it some didn’t. I believe the end result was that it was made brighter in general.

Because each servers has players from various time zones, your suggestion you implicate that certain players would mostly see day OR night. Remeber, majority of player-based plays in the evening/night during their local time.

Not sure what the current cycle is, but it feels slightly short to me. Maybe make it slightly longer?

Actually, I don’t remember ever seeing night in GW2 =\ I wonder, am I just “lucky” or don’t pay attention.

I would like to see the day/night cycle longer overall. Not sure about a 24-hour cycle, but longer than 2 hours.

What I have a far larger issue with is that I almost never notice that it is night ingame. The sky may change, but I don’t spend time staring at the sun, so I wouldn’t know. The lighting never changes, or if it does it doesn’t make a large enough impact to notice. The way I know if it is night or not is when I see a sylvari running around glowing – and that isn’t really adequate.

If they changed night to actually be a night that would be awesome. Make the game darker – enough so that I have a better light radius when a torch/glowing staff is equipped.

Along the same thread of thought, I would love to see them add new events/ mobs that only come out in day/night based on the event.