Guild Wars 2 dev talks about rethinking end-game content

The Guild Wars 2 team shares its thoughts on making the entire game feel like end-game content.

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MMORPGs tend to follow a pretty standard pattern. Fight monsters and do quests to reach the end-game, then start playing high-level content. But according to ArenaNet, it was important to change that dynamic in Guild Wars 2. The developer shared some thoughts on how it rethought the concept of end-game content so players could enjoy that feeling throughout the game, even before reaching high level caps.

An official blog post details the thought process. It notes that that the game starts with a large boss encounter to set the tone for the rest of the game. Then, players can explore as they wish, be it the branching explorable mode for the dungeons or giant bosses for those who prefer epic battles. Through this method, the studio hoped to let players experience content like an end-game throughout the game. The studio says it "didn't want to force you to master an entirely new subset of the game" upon reaching the end.

It does note, of course, that once you hit the level cap at 80 the battles and events become significantly larger. But rather than grinding your way to that content to get to the fun, ArenaNet aimed at making it a smoother transition. Did they succeed? Check out Ozzie's impressions to find out, or chime in with your thoughts.

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  • reply
    September 14, 2012 4:15 PM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Guild Wars 2 dev talks about rethinking end-game content.

    The Guild Wars 2 team shares its thoughts on making the entire game feel like end-game content.

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      September 14, 2012 5:38 PM

      Maybe it's because I started MMO's with DAOC, but I just don't find raiding fun at all. Usually by the time I get a character to max level I'd rather play PVP, but most of the games I've played have such boring PVP. /want daoc 2

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        September 15, 2012 9:49 AM

        Oh man, I'm so there. The whole mechanic of raiding is something I loathe and games like WoW abused it for years.

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          September 15, 2012 10:44 AM

          The idea of raiding isn't bad in of itself the problem is the level of time requirements and work necessary to do them. They are huge time sinks often for very little reward. Blizzard puts some of the best content in their game in places that force you to devote huge swaths of time raiding.

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      September 14, 2012 5:49 PM

      I'm hoping for an EPIC Where's Waldo zone.

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      September 14, 2012 6:05 PM

      I don't want dungeons, I just want a seriously awesome and even more fleshed out WvWvW endgame.

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        September 14, 2012 6:13 PM

        im level 40 and havent been to a dungeon yet. i havent even accidentally run into one.

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      September 14, 2012 9:46 PM

      Well, that's certainly one way to spin "we have no end game"

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      September 14, 2012 9:54 PM

      I dont really want raids. What i DO want is better aggro management.

      An 'event' where 30 normal mobs spawn and beat down 1 person at a time IS NOT FUN. Im looking at you AC boss by the king. Or that room in the level 40 dungeon with the locked door and 30 mobs behind it. Give me a set amount of mobs, some CC, and better telegraphing that a mob is about to do something. Half the time the big 'tell' that you should dodge is the mob wiggling his fucking pinky toe or shaking his hip, and you cant see that shit when you're swinging a fucking hammer around up in his face.

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