Gamescom 2011: Guild Wars 2 shows off 40 minutes of gameplay

@(Unverified) I've played the demo a few times, don't worry about the bloom you see in this video. The quality of someone pointing the camera at the monitor makes everything seem a bit too bloomy, and more than it actually is. It's not that bad in reality.

@gildhur
word...hey AneraNet, please take my money too!

@ Arena Net: please shut up and take my money. ;)

@gildhur
My wallet is ready.

@gildhur

Pours out penny pig, give me the game /ugh

Take ALL my monies! I'll make more!

@gildhur Your body is not ready... yet.

@gildhur Take my cash already! Credit card, money order whatever!

@Ren54

Guild Wars is not about PVE it is a PVP focused game. There will for instance not be any raids if that is what you are after.

@Ren54

Where is the subscription fee that mandates an endgame to keep you latched to the feeding tube? Oh, right.

@Ren54

Where is the gameplay? Did you not watch the video? I think the giant open-world boss battle with 40 or 50 players running around was a pretty darn impressive gameplay demonstration.

As far as "endgame pve", it's the same answer there's always been: endgame starts at level 1. There are tons of open world bosses and dynamic events, and also some very challenging 5 mans with branching paths. If you're looking for "endgame raiding for loot", this simply is not the game for you and it's best to move on. There are tons of MMOs that offer a gear treadmill, Guild Wars 2 is something different.

@Ren54

Well I think I know what I mean better than you do, so let me explain.

First of all, it's a 40 minute mostly improvised video... I find it a bit weird that you're disappointed you did not see everything you wanted. Trust me, the game is bigger than those 3,4 zones.

What I saw in this video, skipping the awesome art, are 4 things:

- the most interesting implementation of dynamic events in a MMO. I've played Warhammer and RIFT and I know very well how those 2 games built this mechanic. Warhammer's public quests were anything but dynamic and RIFT's well, rifts, are pretty much a zerg fest. The 2 examples we were given in this video seemed to stay away from both these 2 problems. They're dynamic, meaning they adapt depending on the number of players in them and they also have complex triggers (the centaurs example) and they also seem to be quite fun and strategic, almost raid boss like.

- huge battleground potential. That map was extremely well designed, the trebuchet mechanism actually seems like it can impact the fight in a meaningful way and the part where he jumps through windows and walls really blew me over. Combine this mobility with the dodge mechanism and the multitude of skills that depend on positioning and you get incredibly fun combat! In PvP AND PvE!

- if a public event lower level boss like that dragon thingie had such awesome skills, do you really think PvE endgame is going to be a problem ?

- 4th but definitely not the least important.... NO HEALER CLASS!!! Best thing since sliced bread! Having played one for the better part of my WoW life, I can tell you it's an absolute blessing. Healing has its advantages, but god damn it's so broken it's not even funny. Instead of experiencing the actual game, you look at tables and basically play whack-a-gnoll while your raid has fun playing the actual game. Not to mention that the whole trinity system can really restrict encounter design and balancing.

@Ren54
Well said!
The danger is that the character becomes cookie cutter. At level two you automatically unlock the net gun thing. Well, where was my choice in that? How am I building this character?

@Ren54

There are gear rewards, but gear really isn't a big focus of the game. The most pretigious gear in fact is cosmetic only. It will be fairly easy for everyone to plateau at about the same power level in terms of gear.

Seriously, can we please move away from the "what is my reward?" type of gameplay. We should be playing games because THE EXPERIENCE is rewarding, not because we get some points or loot at the end.

I will kill that big dragon because it's fun and the fun I have will be my reward.