05-16-2004, 04:11 PM
I didn't have nearly enough time to explore the game. Alas that E3 was last week instead of this week!
I did, however, spend some time dipping my toes into Guild Wars. I saw quite a lot that I liked, so I will be very interested in seeing how the game develops from this mini-alpha demo to a full-scale game.
First impressions:
Communications: While I was frustrated with communications during the first couple of days (couldn't whisper anyone, friends online showed up as offline, chat in towns was equivalent of bnet chat (and some people need to expand their vocabularies)), I thought the game communications had potential to be quite rich. I think the message system is very interesting and potentially useful. For example, if you plan to meet up with your friends at a particular time and in a district, if one friend discovers s/he can't make it, then it's no big deal for that friend to send you a message--even if you're offline!
I didn't have enough time to explore the different communications features. I'd like more people on my friends list, but perhaps when guild features are added, there may be more support for a longer list. Perhaps everyone in your guild will be on your friends list.
Movement: I had a hard time with this initially, but became more used to it as I practiced. I have played Neverwinter Nights, so I found that using asdw worked well in conjunction with the mouse controls. I'd like some options on camera angles so I can get more help with where to position myself. It's hard to see if you're blocking a teammate. Likewise, it's hard to see if you're unable to reach the target. Unlike D2, you can't attack "through" your teammates. The game simply won't let you engage if you're unable to reach the target.
Combat: My primary game experience is D2, which means that my first impulse is to keep clicking away. From NWN, I realize this isn't necessary. Combat take on a cinematic atmosphere as you sit back and watch your toon attack the bad guys. All that's necessary is to select which skill to use during combat. As a warrior/monk with lower-level skills, I found that entering combat with "endure pain" and "frenzy" helped quite a bit. Once my energy had recharged and the enemy was weakened, I could use the hammer skill that knocked the enemy to the ground, making the enemy more vulnerable to my teammates. Likewise, as a monk, I found that I didn't want to be a frontal tank all the time because I could add extra hit points to party members through one skill. I could target party members for healing--a more useful skill in many ways than the heal area skill (which healed monsters as well as allies).
Like others here, I had trouble disengaging from combat when I saw myself in trouble. I know that using the healing signet leaves one very vulnerable, so it's crucial to break off combat before getting into real trouble. In that sense, I found it a lot like NWN's use of healing potions: drinking one leaves you vulnerable to attack, so drink before getting down too low.
Monster spawns: I was amazed that some of my teammates would let us know that there was a boss ahead or where the wreckage was, etc. I wondered if there were some fancy command other than the "shift" key that allowed them to see more than I did. I then realized that they'd completed this mission so many times that they knew exactly which monsters spawned where.
I agree that if the same monsters spawn in the same location and in the same numbers, this game could get boring. I hope that this was a feature of the alpha demo, and I hope that development includes random monster spawns. I have no problems with bosses being found in the same areas (look at Blood Raven, the Smith, Thresh Socket, etc.). However, a nice touch would be to have superuniques bound to a certain geographic area but spawning randomly in that area (something like Bishibosh, who spawns in Cold Plains, but the location is random). Likewise, randomly spawned monsters would also be a nice touch and would keep the variety going.
Towns: I found navigating these to be frustrating. Where are the trainers? Where are the different merchants? A lot of in-town chat asked just these questions over and over again. I did find the trainers after running around a bit and looking for the yellow NPC dots, but I think I'd like more map support. In Neverwinter Nights, for example, the map shows where NPCs sell certain goods. I don't think that Guild Wars should have to label everything, but main areas might be good for people who just set foot in an area for the first time. As the person explores, the person might discover some unmarked vendors, i.e. the exotic gems vendor. It would also be cool to be able to mark areas on your map as you explore.
Items and Equipment: Upgrading was paramount, and as soon as I discovered the weaponsmith, he became my best friend! I ended up with a weapon that did 17-25 damage after it was customized. I had wanted to upgrade other items, but I needed to be able to craft. Unfortunately, I discovered the crafters late into the demo (see comments about navigating in towns), but I'd not played enough to have enough crafting materials to do anything. I think items will be important, but the potential is there for the equipment to be in reach of everyone.
I was very pleased that in co-op play, item drops are assigned to players. This is a great way to discourage the kinds of hacks that plague bnet public games, in which the hacks autopickup good items. I did think of one problem, though. It looks as if everyone in your party can autoloot. That is, if you're dead, someone else can pick up your item. What is there from keeping an unscrupulous player (and unfortunately there will be some) from sabotaging a mission and then looting everyone else's drops? Are these drops tagged in such a way that no one other than the designated player can use them? Since I was more often the one dying :rolleyes: than the one rescuing, I have no idea if those items must first be used by the designated player.
Rewards: This is related to items/equipment, but deserves its own mention. I agree that there needs to be more in the way of rewards. One of the great strengths of D2 is its increased rewards as one progresses. The Blood Moor drops a very few gold pieces, but the Bloody Foothills drops perhaps over a hundred. The quality of the items likewise increases overall. In Guild Wars, my party shared 2, 3, 4 gold pieces. If the drops continue in that vein, then the economy will be based on trading. That could reinforce undesirable behavior.
Furthermore, there were few randomly dropped items. I spotted more wreckage in the group mission areas, and hardly any in the solo mission areas. I suspect that this paucity of drops was a direct result of this being an alpha demo. The developers wanted to give a snapshot of the game, and features like drops are still being worked out.
I'd like to see more rewards more often. Also, depending on what kinds of options players have for exploring/questing in certain areas, I'd like to see a good balance in rewards so some areas don't get farmed more than others--a practice that would have a deleterious effect on PvP.
Missions/Quests: I had no time to explore the PvP aspects of the game, and I'm sure I'd have been very poor at them. I did go on the first 3 missions and some of the Ascalon Wilds solo quests. As I mentioned earlier, I agree with those who say that predictable monster spawn could make these instanced quests boring after a few runs. However, I also found the inclusion of the NPC as a major character very interesting. I hope this inclusion means that the missions will not be random missions representing hoops through which one must jump. Rather, I hope that the missions will be set against the larger background to the world. I think that such a background could be richer than that of D2's, perhaps providing some overall predictability while inserting player options (the character can choose doing X or Y) and randomly determined missions (similar to D1, where different games have different quests within the same overall story line).
The predictability becomes important in skills selection. Good advance choices can help determine the success or failure of a party, and I never felt I had a good idea of what skills would be important until I'd run the mission the first time. In fact, the first time I ran Mission 2, I realized that the new skills I'd learned and thought would be so helpful were absolutely the wrong skills for that mission. They'd have been better for mission 1. If the game won't provide a lot of advance info about a mission, then predictability will be important for development of future characters.
Overall impressions: I thought the demo was truly fascinating, but I also realize it's a demo of an alpha product. I think the company wanted to highlight combat options, skills acquisitions, teamplay, and some trading/items options. I think that only a very few areas were opened up, and that the company trimmed a lot of the surrounding content so that players would get a glimpse of specific features of the game rather than an overall look at the scope of the game. That overall look will, I suspect, come with beta testing later on this year.
I did think the open demo was a terrific marketing ploy and a very good way to get a lot of data in very short order. One hopes that the information gleaned from the demo will help accelerate the development process.
Anyway, I had a good time for the limited amount of time I could play. I'll be following this game closely.
--ceolstan
I did, however, spend some time dipping my toes into Guild Wars. I saw quite a lot that I liked, so I will be very interested in seeing how the game develops from this mini-alpha demo to a full-scale game.
First impressions:
Communications: While I was frustrated with communications during the first couple of days (couldn't whisper anyone, friends online showed up as offline, chat in towns was equivalent of bnet chat (and some people need to expand their vocabularies)), I thought the game communications had potential to be quite rich. I think the message system is very interesting and potentially useful. For example, if you plan to meet up with your friends at a particular time and in a district, if one friend discovers s/he can't make it, then it's no big deal for that friend to send you a message--even if you're offline!
I didn't have enough time to explore the different communications features. I'd like more people on my friends list, but perhaps when guild features are added, there may be more support for a longer list. Perhaps everyone in your guild will be on your friends list.
Movement: I had a hard time with this initially, but became more used to it as I practiced. I have played Neverwinter Nights, so I found that using asdw worked well in conjunction with the mouse controls. I'd like some options on camera angles so I can get more help with where to position myself. It's hard to see if you're blocking a teammate. Likewise, it's hard to see if you're unable to reach the target. Unlike D2, you can't attack "through" your teammates. The game simply won't let you engage if you're unable to reach the target.
Combat: My primary game experience is D2, which means that my first impulse is to keep clicking away. From NWN, I realize this isn't necessary. Combat take on a cinematic atmosphere as you sit back and watch your toon attack the bad guys. All that's necessary is to select which skill to use during combat. As a warrior/monk with lower-level skills, I found that entering combat with "endure pain" and "frenzy" helped quite a bit. Once my energy had recharged and the enemy was weakened, I could use the hammer skill that knocked the enemy to the ground, making the enemy more vulnerable to my teammates. Likewise, as a monk, I found that I didn't want to be a frontal tank all the time because I could add extra hit points to party members through one skill. I could target party members for healing--a more useful skill in many ways than the heal area skill (which healed monsters as well as allies).
Like others here, I had trouble disengaging from combat when I saw myself in trouble. I know that using the healing signet leaves one very vulnerable, so it's crucial to break off combat before getting into real trouble. In that sense, I found it a lot like NWN's use of healing potions: drinking one leaves you vulnerable to attack, so drink before getting down too low.
Monster spawns: I was amazed that some of my teammates would let us know that there was a boss ahead or where the wreckage was, etc. I wondered if there were some fancy command other than the "shift" key that allowed them to see more than I did. I then realized that they'd completed this mission so many times that they knew exactly which monsters spawned where.
I agree that if the same monsters spawn in the same location and in the same numbers, this game could get boring. I hope that this was a feature of the alpha demo, and I hope that development includes random monster spawns. I have no problems with bosses being found in the same areas (look at Blood Raven, the Smith, Thresh Socket, etc.). However, a nice touch would be to have superuniques bound to a certain geographic area but spawning randomly in that area (something like Bishibosh, who spawns in Cold Plains, but the location is random). Likewise, randomly spawned monsters would also be a nice touch and would keep the variety going.
Towns: I found navigating these to be frustrating. Where are the trainers? Where are the different merchants? A lot of in-town chat asked just these questions over and over again. I did find the trainers after running around a bit and looking for the yellow NPC dots, but I think I'd like more map support. In Neverwinter Nights, for example, the map shows where NPCs sell certain goods. I don't think that Guild Wars should have to label everything, but main areas might be good for people who just set foot in an area for the first time. As the person explores, the person might discover some unmarked vendors, i.e. the exotic gems vendor. It would also be cool to be able to mark areas on your map as you explore.
Items and Equipment: Upgrading was paramount, and as soon as I discovered the weaponsmith, he became my best friend! I ended up with a weapon that did 17-25 damage after it was customized. I had wanted to upgrade other items, but I needed to be able to craft. Unfortunately, I discovered the crafters late into the demo (see comments about navigating in towns), but I'd not played enough to have enough crafting materials to do anything. I think items will be important, but the potential is there for the equipment to be in reach of everyone.
I was very pleased that in co-op play, item drops are assigned to players. This is a great way to discourage the kinds of hacks that plague bnet public games, in which the hacks autopickup good items. I did think of one problem, though. It looks as if everyone in your party can autoloot. That is, if you're dead, someone else can pick up your item. What is there from keeping an unscrupulous player (and unfortunately there will be some) from sabotaging a mission and then looting everyone else's drops? Are these drops tagged in such a way that no one other than the designated player can use them? Since I was more often the one dying :rolleyes: than the one rescuing, I have no idea if those items must first be used by the designated player.
Rewards: This is related to items/equipment, but deserves its own mention. I agree that there needs to be more in the way of rewards. One of the great strengths of D2 is its increased rewards as one progresses. The Blood Moor drops a very few gold pieces, but the Bloody Foothills drops perhaps over a hundred. The quality of the items likewise increases overall. In Guild Wars, my party shared 2, 3, 4 gold pieces. If the drops continue in that vein, then the economy will be based on trading. That could reinforce undesirable behavior.
Furthermore, there were few randomly dropped items. I spotted more wreckage in the group mission areas, and hardly any in the solo mission areas. I suspect that this paucity of drops was a direct result of this being an alpha demo. The developers wanted to give a snapshot of the game, and features like drops are still being worked out.
I'd like to see more rewards more often. Also, depending on what kinds of options players have for exploring/questing in certain areas, I'd like to see a good balance in rewards so some areas don't get farmed more than others--a practice that would have a deleterious effect on PvP.
Missions/Quests: I had no time to explore the PvP aspects of the game, and I'm sure I'd have been very poor at them. I did go on the first 3 missions and some of the Ascalon Wilds solo quests. As I mentioned earlier, I agree with those who say that predictable monster spawn could make these instanced quests boring after a few runs. However, I also found the inclusion of the NPC as a major character very interesting. I hope this inclusion means that the missions will not be random missions representing hoops through which one must jump. Rather, I hope that the missions will be set against the larger background to the world. I think that such a background could be richer than that of D2's, perhaps providing some overall predictability while inserting player options (the character can choose doing X or Y) and randomly determined missions (similar to D1, where different games have different quests within the same overall story line).
The predictability becomes important in skills selection. Good advance choices can help determine the success or failure of a party, and I never felt I had a good idea of what skills would be important until I'd run the mission the first time. In fact, the first time I ran Mission 2, I realized that the new skills I'd learned and thought would be so helpful were absolutely the wrong skills for that mission. They'd have been better for mission 1. If the game won't provide a lot of advance info about a mission, then predictability will be important for development of future characters.
Overall impressions: I thought the demo was truly fascinating, but I also realize it's a demo of an alpha product. I think the company wanted to highlight combat options, skills acquisitions, teamplay, and some trading/items options. I think that only a very few areas were opened up, and that the company trimmed a lot of the surrounding content so that players would get a glimpse of specific features of the game rather than an overall look at the scope of the game. That overall look will, I suspect, come with beta testing later on this year.
I did think the open demo was a terrific marketing ploy and a very good way to get a lot of data in very short order. One hopes that the information gleaned from the demo will help accelerate the development process.
Anyway, I had a good time for the limited amount of time I could play. I'll be following this game closely.
--ceolstan
In worlde we ware kast for to kare
To we be broght to wende
Til wele or wa, an of tha twa,
To won withouten ende.
To we be broght to wende
Til wele or wa, an of tha twa,
To won withouten ende.