Guild Wars 2

Four months later, the camera issues still persist. As much as I believe the core content of Guild Wars 2 is outstanding, these major camera flaws have deterred me from recommending this game 100% to any of my friends.

1) The camera is still slow. When panning, the camera still floats rather than stop on a dime. In addition, initiating the camera pan has a strange split second delay.

2) The camera still has collision issues. Touching a wall, stepping off a cliff or elevated terrain, or bumping into an object with solid collision causes the camera to zoom in and out wildly. Try any jumping puzzle with floating platforms. When the playable character leaps off the ledge, the camera zooms in and out moments before the playable character reaches the intended landing spot. It’s frustrating not because of the design’s challenge, but rather the horrendous camera.

Video of collision issues: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqOvX3axULE

3) The limited FOV is still an issue, especially in tight spaces. When playable character is inside a narrow space with a low ceiling, the camera pushes in towards the playable character, obstructing the view.

I am not sure when these issues will ever be solved or, at the very least, acknowledged, but I know I haven’t played much of the game due to them. It’s making me regret buying this game.

It’s not just a Norn phenomenon. It’s a general camera issue. I love this game — but, like you, the camera is preventing me from playing the game for too long. I am not prone to motion sickness in video games or in the real world. Guild Wars 2, however, has made me dizzy several times. As seen in this video, when your character hits an object (even tiny doodads like a fence or a rock), the camera will zoom in and out really fast. Some people don’t notice it until you point it out.

You can replicate this by having any character stand on a boulder (or any object with collision regardless of size) and then having that character walk off the boulder. The camera will push towards the character and then pull back within a split second as your character walks off the object. Sometimes when you have a more complicated object like a staircase, the camera will zoom in and out repeatedly, trying to seek a stable distance between it and your character.

ArenaNet acknowledges the issue in response to a larger post. Hopefully we will see a full fix soon.

Guild Wars 2’s camera is frustrating. As was mentioned in the original post, the camera lags when you turn with a keyboard. This makes movement feel sluggish. Though I generally try to turn with a mouse, there are many situations where you need to turn with the keyboard.

However, what makes the camera dizzying is the fact that every time your character hits a wall, a doodad (object), or a tight space, the camera zooms in and out. I noticed that even when your character hops over a small fence, the camera slightly zooms in and zooms out rapidly. Same thing with tight spaces — like climbing a spiral staircase — the camera zooms in and then wobbles to find its proper distance from the character. This whole issue could probably be solved if you allow the player to lock the camera distance.

Another issue I have is that when you are in a tight space with a narrow path (staircase inside a house), the camera zooms into the small of your character’s back (if you are human), blocking a good portion of your vision. I would suggest making your character translucent or transparent if you need to force the camera to zoom in.