Guild Wars 2 developers offer new information on PvP, servers, titles, and more

The class and race information for Guild Wars 2 might be coming fast and furious, but general gameplay details have been scarce lately.

That all changed today, thanks to an interview with Guild Wars 2 fansite Variance. The Variance team sat down to chat with Eric Flannum, John Corpening, Egan Hirvela, and Matt Witter for plenty of new tidbits on the game, including the new details that fans have been hoping for.

Perhaps some of the most exciting information was regarding PvP play. Information on this side of the game has been very limited, but we learned several new things today. There will be four World vs. World maps at launch, each player will begin in his or her own home map, and there are numerous strategic objectives within PvP play. Hardcore fans will enjoy the in-depth analysis of the new PvP information, courtesy of Kill Ten Rats.

The team wasn't finished there, though. Fans have also been very curious about other details such as server setup, titles carried over from Guild Wars 1, and vanity items like miniatures. The team had things to say about all of that, so head over to Variance to see the full interview for yourself!

Reader Comments (20)

Meh, still looking for that toothy crunch of information to be released.

GW2 is going to be sharded? Wow, huge disappointment and a big step backwards.

@Dracones

They never said "sharded". All they said was that they were going to have their playerbase separated into different worlds, which we knew about already, and that their would be multiple worlds, which we also knew already.

You misread that as multiple copies of an area on one server or world.

@DevilSei I didn't misread it. Multiple copies of a zone on 1 server is instancing. Sharding is an old UO term meaning multiple servers.

It's a step backwards because GW1 didn't have shards. They just used instancing to balance the population loads.

@Dracones
It's the tradeoff for a persistent world this time around. GW2 is going to be a true MMO, as opposed to GW1's co-op style, so the instancing wouldn't have worked for it. It's a step backwards if you prefer the way the first game did it, but it's a step forward if you like the idea of an open world.

@Dracones

But they can't do that now since they're no longer making the world an instance. I'd rather have the open persistent world than the desolate instances.

@Dracones

You interpreted it wrongly: they were talking about shards in relation to the 3 "Worlds" or servers that will compete with eachother in the WvW PvP

@Dracones

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/FAQ#Servers.2FWorlds

"GW2 will indeed have multiple servers (worlds) , however you will be able to move characters between different shards/worlds quickly and easily. Some restrictions will be imposed on characters which have recently switched. An example of this restriction was to prevent interference in the outcome of a World versus World battle. Other details of server switching have not been announced yet."

Beyond that, Anet really hasn't gotten into any more detail on the subject. They seem to want to balance ease of transfer with the feeling of a more close knit community you can get on a server. As a Anet Community Manager touched on in his post on GW2Guru (http://www.guildwars2guru.com/forum/arenanet-interview-variance-hu-t16387.html?p=692583#post692583).

In terms of mini-pets, I do hope it goes the way WoW handled it. Having maybe a couple of mini pets isn't much, but once you hit 5+, you aren't going to carry them around with you, and at even 10+, you'll likely just use another character as a mule.

If done that way, you won't have to bring the pet "item" with you to dedicate it, since you learned it it's dedicated already.

As long as PVP isn't forced, I'm happy, I'd love Aion, but having to PVP, and being the primary focus over PVE killed it for me.

@(Unverified)
It won't be. PvP and PvE in GW2 will be entirely separate.

@(Unverified)

As Irem said PvP and PvE are separate. If you want to level 1 to 80 in PvE and never touch PvP go right ahead. If you want to level 1 to 80 in PvP and never touch PvE then go right ahead. The game is being built so you can level from 1 to 80 however you want.

@Tempes Magus Whether they do actual PvP servers is probably still up in the air, but without a two-faction setup and with all five races cooperating according to the story, I don't see PvP servers as a likely possibility. The PvP will probably be entirely through WvW (three-way server vs. server battlegrounds, only lasting longer and on a larger scale from the sound of it than WoW's battlegrounds) and through "Structured PvP" (essentially arenas or the kind of pvp GW1 has in place).

@Eamil Pretty much summed it up right there. There's no Faction Split, so Open PvP / PvP servers I dont see as an option.

In fact, I can't name a single title without a Faction setup that has Open-World PvP....

@Faction 3 Also:

Where the Mesmer at?!!?!??!

@Eamil
That's kind of a missed opportunity, just because there isn't a faction split, doesn't mean there aren't any factions. Theoretically it would be possible for each faction to have a sort of base area in which they operate, and have opposing factions attack. Imagine if Kurzick players in GW1 could attack Luxon players in the Jade Sea, and vice versa. Wouldn't that be kind of fun?

You don't even need a separate PvP server, you can just have designated areas which those who aren't into PvP can avoid.

@Tempes Magus its already confirmed that it's gonna be similar at character level as in GW1, meaning that PVP and PVE are seperate.

Also at character creation, if you decide on making a dedicated PVP caracter he/she will be
A) max level,
B) have all the skills that are available for this race and class
C) not able to PVE

you can also use your PVE character for PVP, but im not sure if you need to reach max cap for this to happen

@Trippin

This is not quite correct for Guild Wars 2, in that you do NOT create a PvP only character, there is no such thing in GW2. You can, however, take your character over to PvP immediately after the tutorial is complete and never PvE again. Upon entering the competitive PvP arenas, you are bumped up to max level and stats; if you leave these effects will be removed (unless you have actually attained max level and stats whilst playing, either in PvP or PvE).

You can also go back and forth between PvP and PvE with any character.

these guys really know what theyre doing. along with SC2 and Valve devs, ANet is looking to be the next contender in awesome pvp content.

If this turns out anything like DAoC RvR, ala three factions, this will be a great PvP game!

Guild Wars 2 developers offer new information on PvP, servers, titles, and more

Reader Comments (20)

Posted: May 4th 2011 7:25PM Graill440 said

Posted: May 4th 2011 7:46PM Dracones said

Posted: May 4th 2011 7:50PM DevilSei said

Posted: May 4th 2011 7:59PM Dracones said

Posted: May 4th 2011 8:24PM Irem said

Posted: May 4th 2011 8:29PM Mr McChew said

Posted: May 4th 2011 8:44PM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 4th 2011 8:53PM GryphonStalker said

Posted: May 4th 2011 7:48PM DevilSei said

Posted: May 4th 2011 8:10PM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 4th 2011 8:25PM Irem said

Posted: May 4th 2011 8:52PM nightsong89 said

Posted: May 4th 2011 11:25PM Eamil said

Posted: May 4th 2011 11:39PM Faction 3 said

Posted: May 4th 2011 11:39PM Faction 3 said

Posted: May 5th 2011 6:19AM Dumac said

Posted: May 5th 2011 8:53AM Trippin said

Posted: May 5th 2011 11:30AM Randomessa said

Posted: May 5th 2011 2:48PM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 5th 2011 7:16PM Boulderbolg said

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