Guild Wars 2

Hi, moving forward, I think the best thing for ANet to do to address issues like lack of game modes, balance problems, etc, is to start adding more functionality to customise Custom Arenas (CAs). This will also help to monetise PvP.

- Expose an API that allows people to write simple scripts to apply to CAs. They write the scripts on their PC, and then GW2 allows them to upload the script to the CA they create. (the scripts can thus be shared to other people who want to host the same rules.)

¹ To start with, the API should allow the following:

• Size, number and location of capture points.
• Existence & location of secondary objectives.
• Respawn conditions, including turning off respawns for deathmatches.
• Victory conditions, including turning off capture points altogether, getting points for kills, etc.
• Scale & crop the map.

² Later on, it would be great if you could also:

• Apply modifiers to any numerical aspect of a character class – skills, gear, stats, traits, etc.
• Apply modifiers to numerical aspects of secondary objectives – damage, health, etc.

Thus, ¹ will allow us to create alternative game modes. ² will allow us to tinker with balance.

ANet can also deploy their own CAs with balance or gameplay changes they are experimenting with.

History has shown that many of the most successful competitive games have started out as game mods to existing games. Whilst an MMO is limited in the amount of modding it can offer, GW2 has an opportunity to take advantage of this phenomenon via CAs.

Hmm, none interested?

I think it’s better to empower players to improve the game themselves rather than relying on the developers all the time. Just look at the very good things that have already been done with the APIs and interfaces available.