Guild Wars 2

This game was founded on the philosophy that content should be dynamic. Why then does it have so many static features? The game environment is cluttered by features that are unchanging and seem inappropriate for their role. These features generally provide access to merchant services or map completion benchmarks. The simplest solution is to eliminate them and provide access through the character tab and trading post when in the appropriate area.

A player’s access to game features is dependent on their proximity to access nodes (merchant npcs, anvils, crafting stations, vistas). Access should be linked to entire areas rather than nodes. Crafting stations already provide access over larger areas than merchants do. If access to game features was provided exclusively in this manner (area rather than npc) then the animations which represent the services could become dynamic.

For example, a new trading post tab, the merchant tab, could be added to the BLTP interface. This could allow players to access merchants associated with an area directly through the trading post. The standing merchant npc could then be replaced with a dynamic animated character, or character set, that could move around without affecting a player’s access to the service. Below are some more examples of static access nodes and my proposed solutions for making them dynamic:

Black Lion Trading Post: Player will be granted immediate access to TP item pickup when they are in proximity of the TP area.

Item repair (anvils): Players should be granted access to item repair whenever in range of a crafting stations. Crafting stations already provide the most dynamic and interesting animations of any access node. Since the developers wanted the cost of repair to be associated with travel, it makes sense to me to increase the repair burden and have players return to major cities or other areas with crafting stations for repair.

Gold Hearts: Players should be granted access to the heart karma merchant whenever in the area associated with the hearts completion.

Merchants: All merchants will be dynamic animated characters. Access to certain goods will only be available when in the area associated with the merchant. A list of discovered merchants and their associated areas should appear the in merchant tab. Clicking on a merchant in the list should then bring up the nearest waypoint on the map.

bmountjoy.1423:

This game was founded on the philosophy that content should be dynamic. Why then does it have so many static features?

They don’t believe in that anymore. And it’s been like this for a long time. Remember when world bosses weren’t on a bus schedule?

It looks like you created a problem (static features) in an effort to pass off your suggestions as the solutions. I do not see why any of those should be accessible when in proximity of the NPC. You never specified what you considered an area either. Oh, you’re also not getting rid of dynamic since all you’re doing is changing them from being static at the location of the NPC to being static at a position (area) on the map.

Edit: I will point out that I’m not taking issue with your suggestions. Just the way that they were presented.

The goal is make the NPC character animated. That is why access would be better tied to an area. If the character moved access to the merchant service would move as well. If tied to the area then the character could move without affecting the player’s access to the service.

I want to make all the NPC character animations in the game dynamic. I also want to eliminate inappropriate graphics like anvils for cloth repair. Eliminating gold heart NPC’s, for example, who provide merchant services in extremely dangerous area’s (where they just stand, forever), would make the game look infinitely better to me. I would rather go to the BLTP interface (in the area associated with the heart) to gain access to the gold heart karma merchant. The gold heart character could then run around and get into trouble, maybe spawning dynamic events.

In short it is not the access I want to make dynamic but the associated animation. Eventually I would like to see an “enter action” button developed which allows for really cool interactions between player characters and non-combat NPC’s (maybe playing music at a festival or working on a lathe). The closest approximation I can think of is a Sims world where NPC outcomes are dependent on player choices.

Are you interested in a GW2 world where animated characters replace static characters?

The OP is saying that NPCs are currently uninteresting, poorly animated, dull and (as somewhat of a side effect) obsolete in utility.

I would like to see merchants decked out with a greater variety of useful goods and services, rather than the same old mundane crap that no one ever buys.