Guild WarsA Comprehensive Game Evaluation

By: Michael Alff

Guild Wars• Campaigns

– Two new campaigns released every year.– 1st Campaign: Guild Wars – Prophecies (Released 4/28/05) –

Focus of Evaluation– 2nd Campaign: Guild Wars – Factions (Released 4/28/06)– 3rd Campaign: Guild Wars – Nightfall (World Release 10/27/06)

• Developed By: ArenaNet– Subsidiary Of / Published By: NCsoft

• MSRP: $49.99 USD

• ESRB Content Rating: Teen Violence– User Agreement: Children under the age of 13 are not

permitted to play.

• Classification– Competitive/Cooperative Online Role Playing Game (CORPG)– Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG)

Game RequirementsSystem

RequirementsMinimum Recommended Evaluation

OSMicrosoft®

Windows 98/ME/2000/XP

Microsoft® Windows

98/ME/2000/XP

Microsoft® Windows

98/ME/2000/XP

CPUIntel Pentium® III

800Mhz or equivalent

Intel Pentium® III 1Ghz or equivalent

2Ghz Plus Processor

Memory 256 MB RAM 512 MB RAM 1 GB RAM Plus

Graphics3D Graphics Card

with 32 MB of VRAM

3D Graphics Card with 64 MB of

VRAM

3D Graphics Card with 128 MB of

VRAM Plus

Sound 16-bit Sound Card 16-bit Sound Card 16-bit Sound Card

HDD Space 2 GB Available Space

2 GB Available Space

2 GB Available Space

Internet Connectivity

√ √ Broadband or Higher

Keyboard / Mouse

√√ √

Getting The Game• Retail Purchase

– Packaging with Fancy Artwork– Access Key– Installation CD– Game Manual

• Game Story• Profession Overviews• Hero Overviews (Major NPC)• Enemy Overviews• Poor Job on “How to Play”

– Quick Reference Guide• Keyboard / Mouse Layout• Attribute Point Allocation

Guide• Skill Type Descriptions

• Purchased Online– Downloadable Software – Available At: www.PlayNC.com– Access Key– Online Manuals Available

Installation

1. Download Software / Insert CD

2. Run Installation Wizard

3. Provide Installation Location

4. Accept User Agreement

5. Enter Access Key

6. Play Game

Game Story

• Setting– Ancient Content of Tyria– Kingdoms and Magic rule the land– Strongly associated to many mythical gods

• Starts in peace time (Pre-Sear)– Introductory Training Area– Using Skills– Setting Attributes– How to advance in the game– Choosing Secondary Profession

• Major Game Event Searing– Meteor shower like event reaps havoc across Ascolon, a

kingdom of Tyria.– Starts main part of game.

Game Story Continued

• Main Game (Post-Sear)– Start off defending Ascolon against a group of invading

beast like enemies, the Char.

– Travel to nearby land Kryta and liberate inhabitants from the White Mantle, a cruel group of elite knights in power.

– Advance to a jungle-like area where player learns of an evil race known as the Mursaat, set on conquering Tyria, by releasing an ancient evil army.

– Travel to the Desert to “ascend” and become worthy of defending Tyria against its greatest threat.

– Head off to Hell, a volcanic wasteland, to destroy the Mursaat, and ultimately save all of Tyria fulfilling the Flame Seeker Prophecies.

Game Modes• All Gaming Exist on ArenaNet Server

• Player vs. Environment (PvE)– Story Driven– Start at level 1 and advance to level 20 (Max).– Cooperative Missions

• Advance game story• Main objective of PvE is to complete all• Standard Mission & Bonus Mission• No Team Re-spawn

– NPC Quest• Between Coop Missions• Can be a prerequisite to a Coop Mission• Team Re-spawn

– Buy / Earn Skills, Weapons, Armor

• Player vs. Player (PvP)– Start out at level 20– Multiple types of competition: Survival, Capture and Hold, Points Based,

Etc.– Up to 16 players (8 vs. 8)– Guild Ladder Ranking (PvP Scoring)– Items / Skills available for use earned in PvE

Character Professions

• Each Guild Wars Character is comprised of 6 base classes where a primary and secondary profession are chosen:

– Elementalist – spell casting class using air, water, earth, and fire magic for both damage and defense.

– Ranger – Ranged attacker, master of pets and traps and sprits that effect surrounding players and enemies.

– Warrior – Short ranged melee attacker, heavily armored.– Monk – Heals and restores players in party, also smites enemies

with holy damage.– Necromancer – Utilizes corpses of fallen enemies / party members,

curse caster.– Mesmer – spell casting class, master of illusion, manipulates targets

actions against them.

• Entire set of primary professions skills and attributes.• Limited subset of secondary professions skills and attributes.

Game Play• Goal Oriented Game

– Goals Become more difficult as player progresses.

– Focus on one mission / quest at a time.– Completing missions /quests opens new

goals.

• Team play is a must for this game.– Group with other players to achieve

common goals.– Group with computer controlled henchmen.– Create or join a guild.– Mix of different character types on a team.

• Gain Experience – Completing Quest and Co-op Missions– Triggers Leveling (20 Max)– PvE Scoring (doesn’t really matter)

Game Play Continued• Items

– Collect items dropped from fallen foes.– Exchange items for gold or keep for use.– 5 Classes of Items

• Plain - Abundant, Low Value• Blue – Frequent, Medium Value• Purple – Less Frequent, Medium Value• Gold – Semi-Rare, High Value Standard for a good weapon.• Green – Extra Rare, Enormous Value Obtained from bosses

only.– Buy / Sell / Trade with NPC or Human Player

• Armor– Use materials and gold to craft customizable armor.– Different Modifications (ex. 20% resist cold damage)– Upgradeable using Runes. (1 upgrade per armor piece)– Enormous Selection.

• Weapons– All professions can use all weapons– Some more effective dependant on profession attributes.– Various Upgrades (usually 2 per weapon allowed)

Game Play Continued• Interactive NPCs

– Provide Quest– Buy / Sell Items– Join you in battle

• Missions / Quest– Battle to an area– Obtain an Item– Kill a boss– Defend and area under attack

• Death Penalty– Each time you die you incur -

15% max hp and energy. (-60% Max)

– Regain by killing foes.– DP removed when you enter a

town or outpost.

• Additional Goals Are Titles.– Several tiers to titles.– Display titles under character.

Skills• Allowed to carry up to 8 skills at

once.

• Skill Effectiveness increase with attribute points.

• 75 Skills per Profession that are unlocked through gameplay.

• Skills adjustable at a town / outpost, locked otherwise.

• Variety of skills allows for near limitless character builds / strategy .

• Skills have energy cost, casting time, and recharge time associated with them.

Map of Tyria

Game Fun• Fun Game Play

– Create multiple characters adds new dimension to the game.– Personalize Your Character

• Custom Look• Guild trademark is customizable cape.

– Holiday Events exist in dynamic world.• Special Quest• Special Rewards

– Variety• Many choices of play lead to low repetition.• Every item / character has multiple choices.

• Not Fun Game Play– Internet disconnection in middle of quest or mission.– High death penalty makes quest near impossible.– Some goal must be completed at once and take a very long time

(hours).– It may be difficult to locate specific elements key to game play.

Special Features• Team Coordination Compass

– All players in party can see.– Ping a location.– Draw paths through maze like areas.

• Automatic Drop Allocation– Gold evenly dispersed throughout party.– Item drops assigned in a round robin fashion.

• Holiday Events– Christmas party with unique rewards.

• Enemy Targeting Feature– Call out targets allowing party members to attack targets called.

• Competition Among Location– Guild Wars locations: US, Europe, Japan, Australia, etc.– Successive PvP wins = Favor of the Gods

• Better Drops• Access to Elite Areas

• Self Adjusting (Price) Economy Price of items (buy and sell) adjust to supply and demand.

User Interface

• Controls Are Easy To Use– Can access everything with keyboard– Can point click all functionality also.– Many different ways to do the same thing.– Hot keys for advanced users

• Uniform Information Presentation– Consistency across all visual representations.– Descriptions shown on mouse hover.

• Fully Customizable Interface– All elements / windows are sizable & movable.- Each show a different aspect of the character

- Location, Quest, Attributes, Guild Members.- Layout does not interfere with game play.- View / Hide all controls as you like.

User Interface

Graphics and Sound

• Graphics and Artwork– In depth 3D environment with full camera control.– Very detailed artwork with excellent color choices.– Beautiful and realistic looking terrain.– All cut-scenes include all players (characters) and

are done with graphics that are the same as in the game itself.

– Can become choppy with a less powerful graphics card, low memory, or slow internet connections.

• Sound– Standard annoying background music.– Particular sounds to particular enemies.– Sound is part of game play as particular sounds

indicate particular actions / events.– Player speech only during cut-scenes.

Game Advantages• Great Team Communication

– Navigate on compass to all players in real time.– Different channels for communication.

• Local, Guild, Team, Trade, Whisper

• Balanced Game– No one strategy dominates.– All strategies have counter strategies.

• Never Ending Game– If you were to ever complete everything, a new campaign is probably

being released.– PvP encourages continuing game play.– Replay Value is high.– Highest tier of titles difficult to achieve and take a very long time to

complete.

• Everything Is Available For A Price– Online trading system gets you items.– Services available from players

• Power leveling• Complete quest / missions• Get player to a location.

Game Disadvantages• Human Player Availability

– Some Missions / Quest become much harder without human players.– Can be difficult to find specific character for a mission.– If players quit or disconnect during a quest / mission, goal becomes

near impossible.

• Updates– Updates are frequent (almost every time I log on).– Sometimes takes upwards of 10 minutes on broadband..– Some updates lag the game play for a few days.– Usually have no noticeable effect.

• Internet Dependence– Disconnections aren't frequent, but do occur.– No Internet = No game play.

• System Requirements– Quite a large demand on computer resources.– Usually requires additional and expensive graphics cards and

memory.– Any connection under broadband will limit game play.

Compared to Similar Games

• Game depends on combination of choices (skills, attributes, etc) not, how long you have been playing.

• Level cap puts all player on an even battlefield.

• You can warp between towns outpost, unlike similar games where you must battle to a location.

• No Subscription Fees!!!

• Shared Storage lets you transfer items / gold from one character to another.

• No Cheat Codes, enough said!

Evaluation

• Design Mistakes– Designed as if it corrects all mistakes of previous games

in similar genre.– However, no indication of completed quest.– Scoring System for PvE has little impact on game play

and does not necessarily reflect anything about a player.

• Audience– Majority are 18 – 40.– User Agreement says under 13 is not allowed.– Surprisingly large female population.– Aimed for frequent gamer.

• Bugs– Some locations allow you to walk inside a wall. – Frequent updates correct before most notice.

Evaluation

• Improvement– The tutorial in the beginning of the game.– Disconnection recovery.– Offline Accessibility

• Practice Areas• Training Areas

• Purchase– Yes: If you’re a serious gamer looking for

a long term commitment game.– No: If your just looking for a once in a

while game.

Demo

• On to the Demo• Followed by questions and

comments???