Guild Wars 2

Now, I didn’t put this in the suggestions sub-forum because I wanted to suggest a console port, I didn’t put it in suggestions because I wanted to discuss the possibilities, pros, and cons. Plus, there’s a couple of edges to smooth for the PC version itself before a console port is definitely announced. We should all already know that ANet has been looking into the possibilities, anyways. But, honestly, I’m a bit indecisive about it and so are a couple of other people.

It is definitely possible, though. MMOs like DC Universe Online and Free Realms have proven that consoles can be able to handle stuff like that. Do you remember FFXI for the PS2? And there are some upcoming MMOs to the PS3, too, like Final Fantasy XIV. I also hear someone’s been able to use an xbox 360 controller to play this game. But, then again, DCUO is it’s own “casual” MMO, and even DCUO has its fair share of bugs that are ONLY on the PS3 and not on the PC side.
Here’s what I think are some pros, cons, and things to think about if a console port were to actually be in development.
Pros:
*A console port will open an entirely new community for Guild Wars 2, and because Playstation Network and Xbox Live are not only limited to the US, it could gain more support from all over the world.
*People who do not have the best gaming computers will no longer need to be alienated from fully enjoying this game.
*Money, money, money. ANet will be able to sell more copies of the game, this time, for PS3 and Xbox, and there will be more “console gamers” willing to support them.
Cons:
*Guild Wars 2 is a MASSIVE game, and there is no guarantee that consoles will be able to handle it without a price. (Reduced graphics, bugs, freezing because of memory, etc.)
*Running severs on XBL and PSN costs money.
*Lag spikes, not only because of the user’s internet connection, but because of the mass amount of players.
*durr hurr console gaming’s for casuals
Things to consider:
*How would a button/control/UI layout work?
*How would it be possible to navigate between menus like inventory, character menu, etc?
*How would the social aspect of the game be affected?

I’d love to hear the community’s thoughts on this, as I’ve met several people on my PS3 who were more than willing to support this game for a console port, and even migrate to PC just to play this game.
Would you be in favor of console ports of Guild Wars 2?
Do you actually WANT console ports of Guild Wars 2?
Do you want Guild Wars 2 to be a PC exclusive?
PS: Excuse my terrible BB code for this post. I’m fairly new to this forum, game, and community in general.

The trouble with consoles and MMO’s is communication. You have no keyboard, and to my knowledge there isn’t an integrated voice chat system in GW2, so you’d have to know people or make a huge effort finding a group online first to communicate to people effectively.

Kind of defeats the MM bit of MMO.

Katsumoto.9452:

The trouble with consoles and MMO’s is communication. You have no keyboard, and to my knowledge there isn’t an integrated voice chat system in GW2, so you’d have to know people or make a huge effort finding a group online first to communicate to people effectively.

Kind of defeats the MM bit of MMO.

That’s true. A lot of people on console MMOs for the PS3 prefer to use the voice chat system included in the MMO opposed to a USB keyboard, and since this game doesn’t really have that yet, I can see how communication would be a real problem.
There are means to slowly chat with a virtual keyboard, though. And like I said, there are USB keyboards compatible with consoles.

You’d be very very lucky to see this game ported to a current gen console. The biggest reason being the xbox and ps3 are running 7 or 8 year old hardware. They simply would not run this game to an acceptable level. My PC blows a console out of the water in terms of power, and I run GW2 at 20 frames per second on max detail settings, which is pretty atrocious.
On a console port you’d see a significantly decreased graphical fidelity if you wanted to run the console standard of 30 frames per second.

Another difficulty is the number of buttons. The reason most PC games don’t work on console, or have to be dumbed down significantly to work on a console is the number of buttons available on a gamepad. On a PC we have a keyboard, on a gamepad we have 12 buttons. That being said, I think the PS3 has mouse and keyboard support.

I don’t want to see PC → Console ports till they fight as hard as us PC gamers had to fight to get Dark Souls ported to PC…

keep in mind that even with the limited skill bar, there are still 10 attacks, movement, camera, weapon switching, jumping, rolling, targetting, interacting and menus. and i’m probably missing some keys.

then there’s the movement system, which doesn’t translate well into analogs (pressing S is not the same as doing a 180 with the camera and running back).

You forget the Wii U and its gyroscopic technology with its new controller… It will make dodging very easy.

^ you mean waggle the controller to dodge? because that’s very accurate…

and that still leaves a ton of buttons and functions that have to be mapped, and the touch screen can only handle so much. you can’t have the skills on it, because that would be way too far from either analogs, which should always be at hand. same for jumping, targetting (unless you’re playing through the touch screen), interacting, etc.

the only thing the screen would be good for in this case is menu management.

do you remember how long it took polyphony digital to dumb down gran tourismo 5 for the ps3? years that was to make the game worse so the console could play it, that’s right the game you got was barely half what it was suppose to be, the console couldn’t handle it.

and you want guild wars 2 to be playable on one of these consoles? aaaaaahhhhahhahahaha not going to happen.

the technical problems are just astronomical, aside from the frankly absurd difference in performance between a gaming pc and a console and believe me when i say this, it would take several of your wonderous games consoles just to match a base line gaming graphics card.

your also forgeting one vital thing that games consoles lack, ram. they have 512mb of it which is not enough for many pc games even after a port they have to sacrifice a lot to be playable and this game can barely run on high end pc’s properly due to aweful optimsation.

^ dumbed down from what, the PS2 days?

that’s a whole different scenario.

So many compromises would have to be made to get this game on consoles.

Performance is already pretty subpar on powerful PCs, I can’t imagine what it’d take to get a smooth frame-rate in the middle of a zerg on current console hardware.

Then there’s the UI and controls which would have to be completely overhauled and simplified for a gamepad.

You won’t see this game on the PS3, period. Games have to be designed a certain way to work on that system, and the players convincing Arenanet to put that kind of effort forth for a PS3 would have a snowball’s chance in hell of succeeding.

The Xbox would be a pretty good option, but it’s weak… still, GW2 scales beautifully, it just wouldn’t be that pretty on there. It would be doable, if they cared to make it so. But honestly, a business decision of that magnitude wouldn’t likely to be something they would make after the fact- if they already planned to console port, they will. Otherwise, I doubt it.

Either way, I’d love to see one. I have a few non-PC gamer friends that I would like to get into this game.

orlen

…and believe me when i say this…

With all respect but I don’t believe a single word from people on the internet without first checking it =) “believe me when I say this” is already a suspicious phrase in real life, on the internet it usually precedes a lie. In your post however I know you’re right because I looked into that myself, you can believe me as I say it …

Yeah sure why not ? This game can run on ps3 that has 256Mb ram. 7 year old hardware (AGP graphics comparable) . Sure why not.

Please no. MMO’s are the PC gamer’s last refuge from the kitten awful console ports, I don’t want to see GW2 being mangled to suit the consoles. Not to mention the development time that would be wasted on it when they could be making new content.

Plus your “pro” about opening an entirely new community is actually a con. I absolutely do not want to play GW2 with the Xbox Live community thanks.

I feel very strongly against this idea, for multiple reasons.

It’s not gonna happen, man. Keep dreaming.

The capital required for ANet to test, develop, and test again a console port would be astronomical. Not to mention it would strain the productivity of current workflow. They would have to hire a bunch of people — and who’s to say that the console market would even be interested in GW2?

Simply put, there is too much risk business-wise for a GW2 console.

Do.

Not.

Want.

The closest we can get to a “console” would be if Valve finally decides to make a “steambox” and if Ncsoft decides to sell GW2 there.