living-breathing-world
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'Living, breathing world': Martin Kerstein expounds on Guild Wars 2's dynamic events
We've heard the promises: No more grind. No more quests. A truly dynamic world. But can Guild Wars 2 truly live up to these lofty ideals, or will it come crashing down on us like so many other MMO promises in the past? Speaking with Rock, Paper, Shotgun, ArenaNet's Martin Kerstein says that no, this is the real deal -- Guild Wars 2 will feature a "living, breathing world" unlike anything we've seen to date: "What we try to do with Guild Wars 2 anyway is to break a lot of the existing conventions, like by getting rid of quests and basically totally focusing on dynamic events. So you just run through the world and happen on stuff, and that stuff has an impact on the world... The good thing is those events run even if there are no players involved -- if there are no players, the enemy will take over and you'll have to get it back before you can actually do anything. That's why it feels more organic and breathing." Shattering conventions is a favorite pastime at ArenaNet, as the company has made a public declaration that it is not afraid to go against the MMO flow. In the interview, Kerstein also addresses the cycle of dynamic events, World of Warcraft's subscriber decline ("It's an older game as well -- some people are maybe just tired," he said), and Warhammer Online's flawed Public Quest system.
The living, breathing world of Azeroth - shrouded by the Dark Portal
I turned around suddenly to the clang of the gates behind me, viewing the span of a burning city before me. Undead horrors and abominations stared blankly and stumbled in sporadic groups. The city of Stratholme lay in ruins, overrun by the legions of the Lich King. I was alone; a still green adventurer that only two days prior was wandering the halls of the Scarlet Monastery. "I thought that the Scarlet Crusade was stationed here somewhere," I thought to myself. Knowing I could make no difference to the fate of this doomed city, I dug through my pack for my hearthstone, and touched it. The city view blurred and vanished before me. My first adventure into Stratholme was far less poetic than the excerpt of my fan-fic above. Instead, it was filled with far more obscenities and questions as to why I can't get out, and statements of how no group could ever possibly take on 10 mobs, be them elite or not. They should have stuck a warning sign out front! I think back on that day, a year and a half ago, where I realized that the game did not end at 60. In fact, it had barely begun for me. And I've recently realized that the same can be said for 70.
