Guild Wars 2: Design Manifesto

Today, the folks at Arena Net revealed their blog about the future MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) Guild Wars 2. Their first post is a general Design Manifesto, with statements about how their game will be different from other current MMOs on the market.

You can find the full article here, but if you don't have time to read the whole thing, you can read my summary below.

Their first point involves interactive storytelling:

• As you play the game, the different action you make in the story slowly create an autobiography of your character to immerse you deeper into the world. This a cool feature as it actually makes you want to create a new character to experience the different storylines and adds new replay value.
  
• Less quest text, more interaction. How is the story of an MMO usually told? There is a guy who stands around with a big exclamation mark over his head saying "Please help! There are bandits attacking my village. Do something about them and I'll give you..." Not very realistic is it? In Guild Wars 2 you find a village getting attacked by bandits and you take care of them, then the remaining villagers give you a reward. Much better if you ask me.

Their second point involves more social gameplay:

• In most MMOs these days you need a party to get anywhere. If you meet a player out in the field that isn't in your party they're more of a nuisance than anything else. You worry that they're going to take your kills, or kill all the mobs (monsters) before you do. In Guild Wars 2, adventuring without a party is easier since anyone who helps slay a monster gets 100% of the exp and drops. I for one think this is a great addition. I can't tell you how many times I've had to do the same instance over and over because someone else in my party got the drop I wanted. Not anymore. This also means that if there's an event you won't be angry that more people join in because they're not sapping your experience.
• PvP is like this too apparently. Parties are helpful but not necessary to play. Also, the PvP aspect of the game is optional like in the first Guild Wars, so if that isn't your thing you don't have to worry about it. Personally though I think the PvP in Guild Wars 1 was the best part and think that it will be just as fun, if not more so, in Guild Wars 2.
  

Their third and perhaps most interesting point involves the combat:

• Each race has unique combat abilities, so choosing a race will have a slight impact on how the game is played. There is no real detail on this point though so lets move on.
  
• Guild Wars 2 keeps the Guild Wars skills system, with some updates though. Skill combos are more visual now than on paper. They give an example where an Elementalist (a class from Guild Wars 1) can cast Fire Wall, then freeze his enemies and use a knockback skill to knock them into the fire so they take continuous damage. Another possible skill combo is still using Fire Wall and having your team mates shoot arrows through it to deal extra fire damage (note the second part isn't mentioned explicitly, I'm just extrapolating from what they say).
• Guild Wars 2 has an emphasis on environmental weapons. By this they mean you can use the stuff around you to your advantage. They give some cool examples too. If you are fighting an oakheart (tree monster from Guild Wars 1), and you hack off one of its limbs you can pick up that tree branch and beat him the hell up with it ("Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself."). No, they don't actually use those words but its great that you can do that kind of thing. Other examples they give involve throwing back boulders thrown at you by Stone Elementals or, as an Elementalist, use it to make a Meteor Shower.
  

Their last point involves further updates on the game development, the first one being about the Combat System, but give no word as to when the update will be. I'll be bringing you more updates as more news comes out.