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The Soapbox: The illusion of balance
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. Somewhere, on a lone computer in a lonely room, sits the archetype for a balanced MMO, one in which every set of abilities in a skill-based MMO is just as useful as every other set of abilities and every class in a class-based game is just as potent as every other class. There are no disparities in terms of power level, no massive gaps in gearing, and no issues with the specific fights. It is an entirely balanced machine. And as long as we're creating a myth with no place in reality, let's assume that it's being guarded by unicorns. That's the problem with balance -- it's an idea that doesn't actually work in a real environment. We talk a lot about wanting games to have balanced systems, and there are players devoted to declaring with great fervor that classes aren't balanced against one another, but balance is such a hazy concept that no matter how much you want a balanced game, it doesn't really exist.
World PvP, dungeon experiences, and quality of life in Guild Wars 2
Guild Wars 2 is a game that seemingly everyone is anticipating, helped along by the fact that very few people have gotten to play it and even fewer have played it extensively. So it's understandable that incGamers' recent interview with Eric Flannum and John Peters covers a lot of ground, ranging from dungeons to PvP to environmental interactions. While some of the questions posed by the interviewers aren't answered, there's a great deal of information for fans, starting with the clarification that dungeons do not have a specific "story mode." There's a series of events the player experiences with important world NPCs followed by the option to explore the dungeon. PvP is discussed a bit, with the free admission that while players in competitive arenas will be evenly matched, it's possible to be simply outgunned in open combat. The role of guards and other NPCs in the open combats is also clarified; NPCs act essentially as speedbumps rather than serious targets for player consideration. Guild Wars 2 fans should read through both pages of the interview to get a better idea of what's coming in the game as well as another confirmation that a closed beta is due before the end of the year.
