I was thinking about this as I was replying to the Mounts thread and now I’d really like to ride this train of thought out.
At first, GW2 seems like yet another medieval fantasy setting. Yet another Tolkien-ripoff universe. But anyone who plays this game for longer than 10 mins will know it’s really not that simple or easy to write off. As I’ve played this game and watched videos and seen and replied to and made threads about GW2, I’ve been unknowingly figuring out just what it is about GW2’s world that makes it the way it is instead of Medieval Fantasy World #437.
I think the best way to describe it would be a mutation. Specifically of Tolkien’s work. But not just any mutation. Now, GW2 is not the only game to do a different kind of medieval fantasy world. Not even close. However, GW2 does more than mutate the standard medieval fantasy fare. It does it stylishly. Attractively. It is a warped version of the sword and sorcery that we know. The elves have become Sylvari. Gnomes are Asura. Wizards have become Elementalists. And that’s where it gets you. It takes Tolkien’s universe and makes it wholly its own, but it in a respectful and very well-written and thought out way.
GW2 does not stop being different at just the lore level though. No, it’s also different in it’s gameplay mechanics. It’s mutating and evolving these things we’ve come to expect in western RPGs into something else.
There are no mounts. There is now waypoints and gliding. Combat is not a standing affair. It is now a dynamic and active affair with dodging mechanics for every class. Resource nodes are no longer a resource to compete for. Everyone can work them. Loot is no longer given to one sole person. It is given to anyone who participated in the kill. Boss rewards are not exclusive to one person. They are given to all who were part of dealing damage to it. Quests have been changed into events, hearts, vistas, and etc. There are no longer two arbitrary factions of players fighting each other in the overworld. It has been taken and mutated into World vs. World. Three separate servers worth of players sieging and fighting against each other endlessly on massive battlegrounds. You do not pay a monthly sub and nor is the game Pay2Win. You pay a flat price and play whenever you like, however you like.
When you first play the game, you feel like you’re stepping into a world you know, but you’re really coming into an alien one disguised as such. This can be a large problem as players will try to do things as they normally do and become frustrated at the supposed dullness as they keep pursuing heart quests and nothing else, believing that is the only way to gain XP. Perhaps they’re frustrated with the new combat mechanics. Maybe both.
But that’s the thing. Even its very community, it mutates. Everyone who sticks with the game, despite it’s alien feel, is changed. Where former MMOs fostered a community of distrust and competition, GW2 encourages its players to work together and changes them in the process. In almost every way, GW2 takes the standard, the tried and true, and mutates and turns it into it’s own thing. And it makes it incredibly attractive while doing so. And that is the core, the heart, of GW2 and even most of GW.
Whew. That’s all I have to say now. Let me know what you guys think about this.
ArenaNet, please give us more skills!