Guild Wars 2

During beta, one of the developers of The Secret World got on my case for calling the game “horror” themed. He told me it was impossible to create a “horror” MMORPG.

So at least one developer of a game that is full of haunts and demons and other dark nasties feels MMORPG and scary just don’t go together.

I remember how freaking nervous i was when i went around that northern part of elona with all the toxic sands and what not. That place was dark and the mobs there were actual mobs where if you aggroed them you wouldnt just have an easy time face rolling through them. After a while i got used to it but the first time i went through it, it was frighful something i havent experienced much in gw2.

champ.7021:

I remember how freaking nervous i was when i went around that northern part of elona with all the toxic sands and what not. That place was dark and the mobs there were actual mobs where if you aggroed them you wouldnt just have an easy time face rolling through them. After a while i got used to it but the first time i went through it, it was frighful something i havent experienced much in gw2.

Were you ever in Orr before you had decent gear, and after it got buffed? I was, and that was pretty exciting, in a similar way (unlike Karka place which is just dull and frustrating/tiring – I mean, it’s hard work, but it’s not atmospheric or cool).

A day-night cycle, that works somewhat similiar to that found in Dragon’s Dogma would go down a treat IMO. While it isn’t as scary as something like Silent Hill or Dark Souls, it is atmospheric, and manages to still keep you on the edge of your seat a little despite the fact you have constant company – which I presume is the reason some people say MMO’s can’t be scary or atmospheric. I believe they can.

And definetly agree on the point that Orr could do with a Silent Hill makeover; Was really hoping it’d be like that pre-release. Dark and misty, with a deadly silence, and then maybe you walk past an old decayed stone house and catch through the window a few undead getting on with their business…slowly, not noticing you. Things like that. That would have really made the place feel “undead” and creepy. But right now, as mentioned, it does just feel like a warzone for the most part.

GW2 doesnt want to have horror though, and it would seem out of place…plus why should a skilled warrior or powerful necromancer be afraid of the dark?

Scariest thing for me in this game is trying to get from point A to point B alone in WvW….kitten thieves…

It’s only natural to grow used to your surroundings after a while and that initial drama and awe wares off. However for the most part I never had any initial drama and awe with the places in GW2.

I’m very happy with a lot I’ve read in this thread, a lot of really good points coming from everyone.

It’s understandable that an MMO requires good lighting for its players, which is why there’s no open world legit dark areas (those jumping puzzles don’t count, they’re dark as a gimmick, not for the sake of being dark). But I would have loved it if you had the option of making the night in GW2 an actual night; dark and creepy, noticeable.

To add to the lightheartedness of everything, the enemies in GW2 pose no threat. There is no reason to feel tense, and even if they made the game all around darker, that wouldn’t change with the current overall style of the enemies.

Even in Orr everything is just so barely threatening that no amount of environmental change will help with that.

Someone stated that the first time they went into Orr it was tense, frightful. I don’t know how it could have been. I’ve been playing since the release and I went into Orr without knowing about how it was gonna be, I remember my first character, looking at the map and seeing that Lv80 place thinking “that’s gonna be where the real challenge is” nope…

Getting there for the first time it felt just… normal. Like any other map in the game, nothing special, just more undead. Even back then with weak gear and simple notions of the game it was a cake walk.

They need to improve the enemies before they improve anything else. And I don’t mean adding cheap copouts such as one hit kills, dozens of CC and a huge health pool, actually fix that AI you have.

Also, don’t even get me started on the legendaries. Oooh the legendaries, I’m just happy I have absolutely no desire to get any of them.

Legendary weapons, especially in this game which are so few and so difficult to obtain should actually feel legendary and fantastic, instead they feel like party props from a child’s birthday party.

You know what would be awesome?

If we could go into the catacombs in Divinities Reach and explore.

Also, if it was styled like an Ossuary.

You know you want it.

I personally love the pitch black areas in the game as well. Forsaken Halls is perhaps my favorite. Like some previous poster, I would like to see a larger complex that is totally dark, which could be explored. Torches and other sources of carryable light seem to work very well. If more dark areas would be added, they would actually become more useful as that – a light source.

Would be nice if Night… was… actually Night.

Would breath some fresh air into the gate with some light mechanics going on.

At the moment the world feels static. Not to mention not seemless with instances galore.

Immersion in this game is completely zero.

something like this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slYcFe-RJHg

i would love to see this in my favorite game (GW2)

It need more disturbing zones influenced by the manga Berserk. If you have read it you know what i mean.

Do people actually read threads or what? lol the OP is referring mostly to scary, creepy places, not specially to places where the light is absent. What I read the most is people pointing dark-pitched areas in GW2, this is actually something scary, the illiteracy…..

Nothing will ever compare in darkness to the Realm Of Torment, you would need the help of friends to complete those areas, while Orr is pratically soloable.

The zones in GW2 are beautiful. Caledon Forest blew me away when I first saw it. The blinding snows of Wayfarer made me feel a part of the landscape.

Orr is disturbing, but mostly because of the feeling I get when looking at the once great city, now smashed and ruined, covered by corruption and undead. The undead don’t particularly feel creepy. But the sense that we’ll never recover the opulent city or the souls kitten ed therein incites loneliness.

However, I’d love to see a dark wood. Something dark and mysterious, filled with ancient evils and truly scary ghosts and not the restless Ascalonian spirits. They spirits seems full of humanesque resent & rage, not the type of pure horror that true angered spirits should show.

I know that Anet could make it too, because all of the other zones are beautifully done. I LOVE the magnificent reflections in the water of a gorgeous sky, mountain, and trees.

If we get true darkness can I have some night-vision goggles?

Mimizu.7340:

If we get true darkness can I have some night-vision goggles?

Roll Engi

Try using SweetFX, not only is SMAA awesome but there are some configs that alter the lighting. I know not quite what you’re talking about, but it does help.

bhagwad.4281:

I was just listening to the “Fear not this night” track and thought how awesome it would be if I was only ever…you know…afraid!

This game scares me plenty.
Thinking what new LS we will be getting and horribly it will be written sends shivers down my spine every time.

Just have to completely agree with the OP and most of the subsequent posts. Probably my only criticism of the art style and atmosphere of GW2 is it’s too uniformly beautiful. I think a simple change such as making nights much darker would go a long way to shift the sometimes cartoony feel of Tyria to something immersive.

Nothing transforms something seen a hundred times as completely as lighting changes. Atmospheric color saturation & lighting is also one of the easiest things to adjust in a game by the developers, it’s just settings really.

I want to be at least a little nervous every time I go into places like Orr, not just because the monsters there are tougher but because the whole atmosphere instills a heavy feeling of foreboding and dread.

I do think Anet is starting to think this way a bit too as the recent Toxic Alliance living story has a bit of a darker feel to it, but still…LET THERE BE NIGHT!

Wasbunny.6531:

Just have to completely agree with the OP and most of the subsequent posts. Probably my only criticism of the art style and atmosphere of GW2 is it’s too uniformly beautiful. I think a simple change such as making nights much darker would go a long way to shift the sometimes cartoony feel of Tyria to something immersive.

Nothing transforms something seen a hundred times as completely as lighting changes. Atmospheric color saturation & lighting is also one of the easiest things to adjust in a game by the developers, it’s just settings really.

I want to be at least a little nervous every time I go into places like Orr, not just because the monsters there are tougher but because the whole atmosphere instills a heavy feeling of foreboding and dread.

I do think Anet is starting to think this way a bit too as the recent Toxic Alliance living story has a bit of a darker feel to it, but still…LET THERE BE NIGHT!

Note bolded stuff above.

This is right on. Regardless of scarier zones, the day/night transition needs to be more drastic. Doesn’t have to be creepy necessarily. But wouldn’t it be great to have Caledon at night look like Avatar’s Pandora at night, all aglow? Wouldn’t it be neat to see the vibrant, ominous glow of asuran tech shining through the darkened woods of Metrica? Wouldn’t it be epic to feel almost lost amidst the endless snow of the Shivers at night, guided by torches and enticed by warm norn fires? Wouldn’t the Branded and Ascalonian ghosts feel that much more ominous were it darker and more forboding?

I don’t want it to be pitch black. I still want to be able to appreciate the beautiful world that Anet has created. But a more dramatic effect can go a long way.

Also, weather.

Seras.5702:

Wasbunny.6531:

Just have to completely agree with the OP and most of the subsequent posts. Probably my only criticism of the art style and atmosphere of GW2 is it’s too uniformly beautiful. I think a simple change such as making nights much darker would go a long way to shift the sometimes cartoony feel of Tyria to something immersive.

Nothing transforms something seen a hundred times as completely as lighting changes. Atmospheric color saturation & lighting is also one of the easiest things to adjust in a game by the developers, it’s just settings really.

I want to be at least a little nervous every time I go into places like Orr, not just because the monsters there are tougher but because the whole atmosphere instills a heavy feeling of foreboding and dread.

I do think Anet is starting to think this way a bit too as the recent Toxic Alliance living story has a bit of a darker feel to it, but still…LET THERE BE NIGHT!

Note bolded stuff above.

This is right on. Regardless of scarier zones, the day/night transition needs to be more drastic. Doesn’t have to be creepy necessarily. But wouldn’t it be great to have Caledon at night look like Avatar’s Pandora at night, all aglow? Wouldn’t it be neat to see the vibrant, ominous glow of asuran tech shining through the darkened woods of Metrica? Wouldn’t it be epic to feel almost lost amidst the endless snow of the Shivers at night, guided by torches and enticed by warm norn fires? Wouldn’t the Branded and Ascalonian ghosts feel that much more ominous were it darker and more forboding?

I don’t want it to be pitch black. I still want to be able to appreciate the beautiful world that Anet has created. But a more dramatic effect can go a long way.

Also, weather.

THIS! x1000

Count me in for another person asking for darker, scarier, nights.

Tyria, in spite of having so many undead, is cheerful, almost Disneyesque. Imo it’s from a lack of distinct day/night cycles. The game is very beautiful, but it needs a contrast for the beauty to stand out. Without contrast, you stop seeing the beauty and it becomes very samey.

In the pve maps, there aren’t areas where I slow down. Move hesitantly. Unsure of what’s ahead and the enemies that may be lurking. It feels like sunshine and flowers all the time.

Ambient noise and darker music would help, as well as NPCs that don’t seem so chipper and laced with comedic relief everywhere you go. It’s not a very dark game to begin with.

To be fair I thought this topic was going to be about the environments having too much light (particularly at “night”). This is something I’ve continued to want in all gaming: much darker, ambient night time lighting (as well as weather)! Night should reduce visibility and blacken the skies. Instead I look at my hammer from AC and that’s the biggest indicator that this cloudy time is supposed to be twilight.

Queen Jenna anniversary give me a torch “a light to found the way in darkness” My mind just blow, maybe (i think on that moment) there are impossible ancient places or corrupted zones in Tyria. so dark, so evil! and maybe the only way to get some decent and persistent light there could be magic items or special torchs.

I fantasied about run a underground divinity reach type/size forgotten city, staying at my party backs one hand sword and pull that torch on high so my fellows partners could stay get a fair fight. And then, close to be defeated from the minions hordes. Being rescued from a second players party, there is not magic items or torch on that party, but they get some Silvary characters and his natural glow luminescence given them a nice amount of light to slip trough the halls and corridors. then both groups joins and still go way down, in the darkness…

well, we already know what’s the real story here about that torch. so i just still dreaming about this class of stuff, Cmon Anet, make it happen!

There is that one mini-dungeon, where you need to run with a torch, can get pretty creepy. Don’t really remember where it is.

I think it would be great if the first expansion of the game comes out with Dwarves as a playable race, and give the ability to explore the world underneath Tyria again. There was VERY limited underground exploration available in GW1 and it’s something I miss in GW2. Plus Dwarves are just awesome.

Domain of Anguish, Echovald forest, Urgoz’s Warren, Underworld, Ring of Fire islands, Realm of Torment… Just to name a few.

Guild Wars 2 really has nothing event remotely comparable to those zones as far as the “dark” factor is concerned. Orr simply looks like a Left4Dead kindergarten for inexperienced zombies.

Definitely core mission was my best experience in any game i have played, it is simply amazing. And i hope AN will learn something from it.

The sounds is the main thing that makes up climat, and gw simply lacking it.

I definitely agree with everyone who thinks darker nights would make the game more immersive. There’s another thing that a lot of modern games tend to overlook when it comes to immersion, though. That is weather.

Morrowind is one of my favorite RPGs of all time for quite a few reasons. However, one of the many things it nailed was the weather. When in solstheim, you knew when there was a blizzard. Like a blanket of snow falling down on you and low visibility. You knew when it was raining while exploring the bitter coast region and navigating the swamp, the game made you fully aware of the weather around you and it made the game that much more immersive and helped set the mood.

It’s rare for me to notice the weather effects in a lot of RPGs nowadays, and it does hurt immersion in my opinion. Not to mention could you imagine what a dark, stormy sky mixed with a dark night would do to make just about anything creepy?

Leon Derge.5239:

I definitely agree with everyone who thinks darker nights would make the game more immersive. There’s another thing that a lot of modern games tend to overlook when it comes to immersion, though. That is weather.

Morrowind is one of my favorite RPGs of all time for quite a few reasons. However, one of the many things it nailed was the weather. When in solstheim, you knew when there was a blizzard. Like a blanket of snow falling down on you and low visibility. You knew when it was raining while exploring the bitter coast region and navigating the swamp, the game made you fully aware of the weather around you and it made the game that much more immersive and helped set the mood.

It’s rare for me to notice the weather effects in a lot of RPGs nowadays, and it does hurt immersion in my opinion. Not to mention could you imagine what a dark, stormy sky mixed with a dark night would do to make just about anything creepy?

There is weather in Guild Wars 2. But it is not randomized.

There are some ‘dark’ areas like Snowblind fractal and Forsaken Halls. But yes, besides ambience some darker themes would be welcomed, much like what was said about Cantha’s slums and places like DoA in Gw1 where you’re surrounded by powerful mobs.

Found this place called Malchor’s Fingers, while its nearly on the edge of the map and has not much risen around it can be eerie.

Seveleniumus.5973:

There is that one mini-dungeon, where you need to run with a torch, can get pretty creepy. Don’t really remember where it is.

I think it was Lornar’s Pass, if not it’s in Timberline. Neat little place. Actually pitch black and the mini boss inside is almost scary as a result.

A proper day-night cicle would be a good start. With moving celestial bodies, not just a sun and a moon that stay in one place on the rare areas where they are visible. Then some weather would be nice too. True there are the occasional little raindrops or the snowstorm somewhere else, but non of those seem to fully provide the feeling we are looking for.

Finally the lighting. Been mentioned many times already. I would love if the underground caves and the unlit indoors would be darker. In fact, there are many areas where there is too much light with very little discernible lightsources and when they are there, they dont make much of a difference, they are barely noticable parts of the scenery.

As for the darker mood, i agree that the Realm of Torment was spot on back in the days. GW2 misses that certain feeling of dread, only Orr comes close every now and then when i forget to enable map chat and go far enough from the pact camps and events to forget that im not alone in there. Moodier music could make it great, more proper lighting, and some fancy enviromental hazards would be great too. Im usually not a fan of random hordes of undead spawning from nowhere, but in Orr, it would make sense that entire groups try to ambush a lone player every now and then. Right now many risen just sits on the rotten meadows waiting to be massacred, or they spawn and immedietly swoop down on a pact camp and get massacred. It grew predictable.

Also, everything is an event when there is action. Thats not needed. Much of the sense of exploration and random encounters and the overall feel of it being natural and immersive is lost when you see the event markers pop up on the right side of the screen. You immedietly say, “oh, here is a scripted event”. On paper it sounded great. You see something happening in the distance, and you go there. Except that you see the event marker much sooner than the actual effects. I dont see anything from Nebo Terrace being taken over by centaur from Ascalon Settlement. I dont see anything before i set foot in the town and see the red circle in the middle and 5 centaurs standing still. But the event marker tells me everything i should be seeing and be immersed in. So instead of following quest markers on the map, we follow event markers, with half the wall of texts that give any background, and quarter the lore that could make things relevant in more sense than just clearing area X of creature Z.

I’m gonna go on the other side of this discussion.

While I’m not opposed to messing with the way night looks, I am opposed to it in any way inhibiting gameplay. Maybe there’s a middle ground where night can look less like day, but still allow you to see clearly. Maybe we’re already at that middle ground.

As for “dark” areas, I feel like they invariably end up as the corrupted areas, and those I don’t like. Ascalon is gorgeous save for half of every zone being this hideous purple thing. Orr’s interesting but not three zones and a dungeon’s worth of that design interesting. I would like more creepy or desolate places, but not corrupted places.

I like the woods in that one zone with the haunted house, and it’s all foggy? I’d love to see a zone full of that. Would love to see more of like a melancholy beauty to the level design altogether, which Ascalon captures wonderfully.

Places that are actively evil such as the corrupted areas are just boring to me.

Cerai.9741:

Seveleniumus.5973:

There is that one mini-dungeon, where you need to run with a torch, can get pretty creepy. Don’t really remember where it is.

I think it was Lornar’s Pass, if not it’s in Timberline. Neat little place. Actually pitch black and the mini boss inside is almost scary as a result.

Yeah that’s in one of the sealed doors, right? it’s a pretty fun jumping puzzle.

The tower in kessex is pretty good. Not exactly dark but kinda creepy.

I also think mmos can’t be scary. I haven’t been scared by any mmo ever. The secret world was trying to be a horror mmo and for me it just didn’t feel right. It would have been a much better single player game.

I agree about the Lornar’s Pass thing. That’s really nice.

Darkness itself doesn’t instill fear… it just kitten es me off because I can’t see a kitten thing and whatever I’m doing takes twice as long so kudos to anet for not making it worse.

The first part of a truly dynamic word would be having a working time cycle with unique events based on the time of day. The passage of time isn’t really felt in Tyria and darkness feels no different from light and I’ve got to agree that that’s a shame.

Just turning down the lighting doesn’t suddenly make things creepier. There was much more to the horror that was the Realm of Torment than darkness. It really came down to the shapes and the sounds you encountered there. All the giant, dismembered insectoid body parts, the strange skittering and unidentifiable noises heard in the background, the sounds that your characters footsteps made in certain sections of the Realm of Torment. All of those things together are what made that place as unnerving as it was.

A lot can be accomplished with sound, or a lack of in the right situations.

bhagwad.4281:

Edit: Even the new maps like Southsun are just too “happy happy” with a “coconuts bras and bikinis” feel. Just a holiday resort. You can do better!

I think that is an intentional part of its charm, how not 10 yards away from the Consortium-funded tourist trap, you can meet a horrible end. Kinda like modern-day Jamaica