Guild Wars 2 Info

Guild Wars 2 is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game in development by ArenaNet. Set in the fantasy
world of Tyria, the game follows the re-emergence of Destiny's Edge, a
disbanded guild dedicated to fighting the Elder Dragons, a Lovecraftian species that has seized control of Tyria in the time since the original Guild Wars. The game takes place in a persistent world with a story that progresses in instanced environments.^[1]
Guild Wars 2 claims to be unique in the genre^[2] by featuring a storyline that is responsive to player actions,^[3] something which is common in single player role-playing games but rarely (if ever) seen in multiplayer ones. A dynamic event system replaces traditional questing,^[4], utilising the ripple effect
to allow players to approach quests in different ways as part of a
persistent world. Also of note is the combat system, which aims to be
more dynamic than its predecessor by promoting synergy between
professions and using the environment as a weapon,^[5][6] as well as reducing the complexity of the Magic-style skill system of the original game. As a sequel to Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2 will feature the same lack of subscription fees that distinguished its predecessor from other commercially developed online games of the time.

Guild Wars 2 uses a heavily modified version of the proprietary game engine developed for Guild Wars by ArenaNet. The modifications to the engine include real-time 3D environments,^[1] enhanced graphics and animations^[7] and the use of the Havok physics system.^[1] The developers say the engine now does justice to the game's critically acclaimed^[8] concept art, and that concept art will be integrated into the way the story is told to the player.^[9]
Guild Wars 2 will allow a player to create a character from a
combination of five races and eight professions, the five races being
the humans and charr, introduced in Prophecies, the asura and norn, introduced in Eye of the North, and the sylvari, a race exclusive to Guild Wars 2.
Professions are divided into armor classes; "scholars" for light armor,
"adventurers" for medium armor and "soldiers" for heavy armor. As of
May 2011^[update], seven professions have been announced, three of which do not appear in Guild Wars.^[10][11] There is no dedicated healing class,^[12] as Guild Wars 2
is not team based, and even in a team context the developers felt that
making it necessary for every party to have a healing character was
restrictive.
The professions announced thus far are as follows:

• Elementalist: A scholar profession, focusing on, not surprisingly, magic based on the classical elements.
  The elementalist's unique mechanic is "attunements"; whereas the other
  revealed professions may switch between weapon sets, Elements may switch
  between four "attunements", one for each of earth, fire, water, and
  air. These attunements have both passive effects and change the skill
  bar of the character. Earth skills focus more on defence, fire skills on
  area of effect damage, water on healing and snares (movement
  impediment), and air on single target damage.^[13]
  
• Warrior: A soldier profession. May use both ranged and melee
  weapons, with ranged weapons being focused more on various types of
  direct damage, and melee weapons covering a variety of roles. May also
  use shouts, stances, and "battle standards" to buff
  allies and themselves. Their unique mechanic is adrenaline, which
  builds up as the warrior deals damage, increasing the damage of
  abilities, and providing a special ability when it is high enough.^[14]
  
• Ranger: An adventurer profession. May use both ranged an
  melee weapons, with the ranged weapons covering a variety of roles, and
  melee abilities being focused around quick movement and defense. May
  also use traps and spirits to defend and area, and influence an area,
  respectively. Their unique mechanic is animal companions, which can be
  quipped with a number of different skills, for different roles,
  depending on the exact type of pet.^[15]
  
• Necromancer: A scholar profession, based on the manipulation
  of death. Has a number of life stealing skills, summonable minions, and a
  range of support abilities, in addition to some direct damage. Their
  unique mechanic is a "life force" resource that builds up as deaths
  occur near the necromancer. Life force is used to sustain a "death
  shroud" state, which changes part of the necromancer's skill bar, and
  has the necromancer use life force rather than hit points.^[16]
  
• Guardian: The second soldier profession. Uses Virtue (divided
  into three categories: Courage, Justice, and Resolve) to aid allies in
  combat, or use to power the Guardian's own passive abilities. Can also
  create wards that prevent enemies from getting any closer, and can
  summon enchanted weapons to help in the fight.^[17]
  
• Thief: A adventurer profession. May use both ranged and melee
  weapons, and is the first class announced to use pistols. Utilizes
  shadowstepping, traps, and stealth in combat. As a unique mechanic,
  rather than having cooldowns, thief skills consume some of the
  character's ten 'initiative' points. The thief can also steal an item
  from a foe and use it as an impromptu weapon.^[18]
  
• Engineer: An adventurer profession. Uses guns, both pistols
  and rifles, as well as a number of technological gadgets for offense,
  healing, and control. They can place turrets down on the battlefield,
  equip backpack kits that allow them to use mines, grenades, tools, and
  medicine, and equip new weapons into their hands using weapon kits, from
  flamethrowers to "pulling" cannons.^[19]
  

The race and skill of the player will determine the skills that he or she has access to. Guild Wars 2, like Guild Wars,
uses a skill-based combat system, whereby players must select only 10
skills from a much larger pool, introducing an element of strategy.
However, unlike Guild Wars, skill slots have predefined roles, so
the first five will be determined by a combination of the player's
weapon and profession, the sixth can only be one of a number of healing
skills, the seventh through ninth will be skills with no defined roles,
and unlocked as the game progresses, and the tenth slot will be for an
"elite" skill, which is also initially locked. In a departure from the
high number skills present in Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2 will focus on quality of skills over quantity^[7]
and will also reduce the overall number of game modes to reduce
balancing complexity — one of the most common issues present in
MMORPG's.^[20]
The uniquely low level cap of Guild Wars (20) has been
replaced with one capping out at 80, which the developers state strikes
the correct balance between allowing for character development and
avoiding forcing players into the grind-based gameplay that too often accompanies a high level cap,^[21] the elimination of which was a core design principle of the original Guild Wars. In PvE, grind is combated with a sidekick system, similar to that used in City of Heroes,^[21]
allowing two players with a large level disparity to normalize their
levels and enjoy content as though they were the same level. In PvP, entry to e-sport will grant access to all skills, items and provide a fixed level,^[22] so that all players will be on a level playing field.
In addition to the small-scale, tactical combat described above, Guild Wars 2
will feature "World PvP", large scale combat taking place in a
persistent world, with players able to drop in and out "on the fly".
Players will be able to join this worldwide PvP battle in a variety of
roles, with rewards commensurate with their success.
A more elaborate crafting system and other non-combat interactions are also being added to the game.^[23]
The achievements and honors accumulated by all the characters on players' Guild Wars accounts are commemorated in the Hall of Monuments, which is only available in Guild Wars: Eye of the North. The monuments in the Hall are worth points that can be used to provide Guild Wars 2 characters with exclusive titles, items, mini-pets, and animal companions.^[24]
Plot


Setting



Although humans begin Guild Wars 2 on the back foot, significant technological advances have taken place in the years since Guild Wars.







The game takes place in the Guild Wars fantasy world of Tyria, 250 years after the players' defeat of the Great Destroyer in the Eye of the North
expansion. Five elder dragons sleeping beneath the continent have
awoken, causing widespread destruction to Tyria and corrupting its
inhabitants. The once dominant humans of Tyria are in decline,
supplanted from most of their land by disasters and war,^[25] and the dwarves are all but extinct after the events of Eye of the North.
Old and new races alike have begun to rise in the resulting power
vacuum. Old cities have been destroyed and rebuilt, kingdoms seized and
reformed by new rulers. The continents of Cantha and Elona have been cut
off by politics and the dragons. The advancement of time is reflected
in the changes in culture, including armor and clothing, as well as in
the advancement of in-game technology and a unified common language.^[26][27]
Story


The player is tasked with uniting the different playable races, whose
combined strength is needed to effectively combat the Elder Dragons.^[1] The game's story primarily focuses on the combat against only one of these dragons, Zhaitan.^[23]
Development


The decision to start creating Guild Wars 2 began in a design meeting for Guild Wars Utopia,
back when the company was releasing campaigns on a sixth-month
development cycle. The team realised that they would be able to do
everything they wanted within the constraints of the scope that they had
previously defined for campaigns and the limited amount of time
available to them, and at the behest of Jeff Strain,
found themselves discussing how the continued addition of features and
content in stand-alone campaigns was leading to more bloated tutorials
and difficulty in balancing the ever-increasing number of skills.
Eventually, the discussion evolved into a blueprint for an entirely new
game.^{[7][23][28][29]}
Work on Guild Wars 2 began in 2007.^[30] It was announced March 27, 2007^[31] to coincide with the announcement of the final Guild Wars expansion, which was designed to act as a bridge, in both gameplay and story terms, to Guild Wars 2.^[28] The development team abandoned the early open alpha and beta testing which they had used for the Guild Wars
game. ArenaNet considered that player expectations for open beta tests
of MMORPG had changed, and the beta was no longer used to test the game
but to trial a nearly finished game prior to purchase. Beta tests
scheduled for 2008^[32] were cancelled to ensure Guild Wars 2 had maximum impact and appeal to these players.^[21]
In August 2009, two years after the game was first announced,
ArenaNet decided the game had reached a state where they were happy to
show it to the public.^[33] A trailer which mixed animated concept art and in-game footage was released at Gamescom, followed by interviews expanding on the lore of the game world and information about the player races.
In November 2009, NCsoft CEO Jaeho Lee stated the game would most likely not release until 2011, but a closed beta would be made available in 2010.^[34]
The 4th Quarter 2009 shareholders notes further supported this when
NCSoft CEO stated that "the current development target was the end of
2010 but, Guild Wars 2 likely won't be released until 2011."^[35]
A playable demo of the game was made available at Gamescom (19–22 August 2010),^[36] Penny Arcade Expo (3–5 September 2010)^[36] and Paris Games Week (27 October-1 November 2010).^[37]
Guild Wars 2 is being developed for Microsoft Windows with a "very small team" investigating the possibility of a console version.^[38]
ArenaNet will be conducting small closed alpha and beta tests in 2011.^[39] The feedback from these tests will determine when they will do public beta tests and ship the game.