Guild Wars 2

The very fact that GW2 is not like WoW and many other MMos in terms of game mechanics is, as it was with the prequel, exactly why I played GW1 from its Prophecies launch, on through all the expansions, right up to the present (since it too is still a good game). I will probably do the same with GW2 for that reason too. That is of course not what everyone will do, and not everyone will like GW as much as some people do, but there you go. Speaking from personal experience, if you like the concept, it has enough mileage for literally years of gameplay.

However, if someone prefers the kind of game concept that WoW offers, and that is what floats their personal boat, then good luck to them, I’m glad there is a game to suit what they prefer; it isn’t my preference, but each to their own. So it is important to note if the traditional WoW MMO mechanic is a person’s preference, then GW is almost certainly not going to fit their preferred parameters for how a game is at its core. From the very outset Arenanet determined to plough their own furrow and be different.

Thus Guild Wars is about exploring the choices you are presented with, employing thoughtful, creative and cooperative gameplay, all coupled with careful selection of your skill choices, rather than defined ‘trinity’ of player types. It is not – and never really was even in GW1 where there was a Monk – about totally clear-cut roles, nor about getting the best gear in order that you can ‘pwn’ other people who have not got that gear.

Frankly, I’m amazed that the core concept is still eluding some people, particularly given that even the whole PVE character storyline is written around the concept of bands of people teaming up with what they’ve got, cooperating in order to defeat a common enemy; i.e. short of having flashing neon signs all over the scenery, the concept could not have been made more obvious to anyone who has even come close to completing at least part of the storyline, because the storyline itself is in fact a parable of how and why you play the game. In others words, GW is about ‘We, We, We!’ rather than ‘Me, Me, Me!’

As far as traditional endgames and content are concerned, anyone who played the original GW will be aware that the game is about trying all the characters (which will take even a dedicated player a long time) and by the time one has done that, being in good shape for the expansions that are forthcoming, where if previous history is anything to go by, there will not only be new terrain and stories, but also new character types to experiment with. Thus giving players who do like the mechanics, more of what they like.

In the original GW, the mechanics of the concept were limited by the physical capabilities of internet connection speeds and what computers could handle graphically, these limitations necessitating the use of smaller group sizes and employing instances and NPC allies in order to steer around such physical boundaries. With the advent of better computing horsepower, the concept has been driven forward to make the notion more player-oriented, but it is still the same cooperative concept at heart, and if you didn’t like it in GW1, then you won’t like it in GW2 unless you get into the idea that this is.

It never was intended to be like other MMOs and that’s just the way it is, and you are either going to like that, or you aren’t. But that is the game, and that is how it works.

Al

I think one or two people are confusing repetition with musical style here. Yes Jeremy Soule does use some similar motifs and themes on occasion, but then again you could say that about Beethoven, Mozart, and pretty much every other major classical composer of note.

In fact, if one has a hallmark sound, it is generally indicative that one has made an impact on music with one’s ouevre. Even if you don’t know everything Mozart ever wrote, upon hearing something from him, if you are at all familiar with his work, you find yourself saying – yup, I know who that is, as you do with the vast majority of decent classical composers.

It is cetainly true that many elements of the soundtrack from GW have resurfaced in GW2 as we know, but then again, since it was in fact a very good soundtrack in the first place, and many of the themes were intended to be motifs for certain geographic areas, that actually has a valid reason for being the case.

As for the poster who thinks The Beatles made mediocre and repetitive music, well, I can only assume that they are either very young and aren’t aware of placing music in its relevant timeframe to properly understand impact in an historical context, or they have a tin ear, or possibly both. I’d point out a list of examples worth noting in an attempt to steer them right, but I’m afraid it would quite literally fall on deaf ears, so I won’t bother at length and instead point out just one; get hold of the sheet music for, and check out, the very clever circular, then switching chord progression in Paul McCartney’s Here There and Everywhere for an example of elegant simplicity mixed with ingenious touches. It’s worth noting here that John Lennon said that was the best song on the album (Revolver), George Martin said it was his favourite McCartney song, and it was voted the 4th best song of all time in a Mojo poll.

If you do happen to know about music incidentally, Here There and Everywhere uses a (technically) discordant shift from G Major to G Minor via E Minor, and the change happens to coincide with the lyric ‘changing my life’, so even the lyrics are tied to the tonal shift in a clever way. If you’re missing stuff like that, then you really have no idea about what you are writing about from a musical standpoint.

All of this is probably why McCartney is listed in Guinness as the most successful songwriter of all time, with over ninety top ten records, has won two Grammys, an Ivor Novello, even had a planet named after him, and wrote the most covered song of all time (Yesterday). Not to mention that McCartney was recently was awarded the Légion d’Honneur by France for services to music.

And as for the notion that the engineers were the creative types where The Beatles output goes – and by that I presume George Martin – whilst it is certainly true that Martin’s input cannot be overstated, it is probably more the case that Martin is ‘the fifth Beatle’ rather than the sole creative force, after all, even the best engineer in the world needs some inspiration and material to work with, and if you read Martin’s autobiographical writings (well worth doing), you’ll note that he readily admits this is the case with The Beatles output, of which he is an ardent admirer.

Back with JS though, really, his audio inputs for both GW and GW 2 are an essential piece of the puzzle which come together (note the Beatles reference) to make GW very much greater than the sum of its parts. It just wouldn’t be the same without it.

Al