[Fozzik]

The final profession reveal was set for tomorrow - surprise! - but one website jumped the gun and leaked the skill video almost two days early. I'm a little sad to see the leak spoiling the reveal...but I'm so happy to finally get to see what a mesmer can do. Dopplegangers that shatter like glass, portals, AoE stealth, and force choke!

Check out the video (watch it in HD) - There are butterflies!

The official mesmer profession page is now live on GuildWars2.com!

[mmorpeegee]

This game looks like it's in a totally different league to everything else out there.

[AsheMan]

Looked fine to me. I didn't see anything too different from what I see in other games. (Not being negative, just commenting) For some reason my work computer wouldn't load the last minute. Can the mesmer mesmerize other creatures? Like daze them or potentially control them?

[mmorpeegee]

The last minute is worth watching actually. Do you have a second browser you could try?

The thing on my mind when watching this, is that it looks entirely scripted and not part of gameplay. Sorry for the spoiler, but one of the fights near the end of the video, he makes two teleport locations on the ground. A big nasty looking mob charges at him and he steps in to one of the teleports and pops out about 30 foot behind the mob. Then the mob turns around and charges again and he steps in and teleports back. Then he turns around and kills the mob with one big nuke. It's great to watch, but it does beg the question.. what is the point of teleporting around when you can just kill the mob with one spell? :P

But I am assuming the movie was just scripted to show off the class and is not how it actually works in reality. It looks incredibly fun, and the game itself just looks amazing in so many ways. But I really need to see some actual in game combat sometime, and see how it works. The game looks so good I reckon I would even pre-order it, and that is something I have only ever done once before with a game. But still, I need to check out the finer details sometime.

I get the impression it is very fast paced, which usually I hate. But it looks like it is rather skill based because you can dodge etc.., and also a lot of thought goes in to what you cast and when you cast it, and you even need to set up your limited hotbars similar to old EQ. So although it's fast, it looks like it is still very tactical. I am pretty damn excited about it!


p.s. One other rambling. It was interesting to see how you can equip anything you want. Not sure if this is true of any class but with the mesmer, which I would assume to be a caster, you can dual wield swords / maces, or use a big staff, or even use a 2 handed sword. Also, I'm not sure if it was part of the scripting or if the actual game is like this, but the attention to detail is insane. Like when they stealth up, the giant who is chasing puts his hand up to his eyes and peers in to the distance to try to see them. And the girl who fights a group of enemies, she seems to actually look at them with her face, and the face itself is FMV quality.

A lot about this game seems like they have totally ripped up the MMO rulebook and used it as toilet paper. I have been dying for a game to do that for a long time... I just hope it doesn't create new problems seeing as it is almost entirely a brand new concept. Although even if it does, I want to play it anyway.

[Fozzik]

The movie is indeed a set of short scripted encounters intended to show off some of the mesmer's skills. If you visit any of the other profession (they call classes "professions") pages, you'll find they have these same videos to show off each class. It's definitely a little hard to pick out the differences between GW2 and other MMORPGs in a video like that unless you know what you're looking for. However, a short perusal of the GW2 website and the available information and videos should prove to anyone just exactly how high the production values of the game are going to be... I've pretty much never seen a more detailed, more professional website pre-launch (other than maybe SW:TOR...but the info there is kind of sketchy compared to GW2).

The level of scripting they can do in-game shows the high level of flexibility and complexity in their animation engine, for sure. How much of that carries over into moment-to-moment game play, I don't know. I know that your character will actually say things at various times - like in the video when she sends in her doppelgangers and says "into the fray!" or whatever.

Each profession is able to wield a subset of the available weapon types. Each profession does have a good variety available, and this is especially important because the first five skills on your skill bar are determined by what you're holding in your hands. Everybody will have a variety of combinations to choose from (giving a variety of different skills), and will be able to switch between 2 sets of weapons during combat. Add aquatic weapons to this (yes, you get a whole different set of weapons and skills for fighting under water) and it provides substantial meaningful choices for each profession...and that's just the first half of your skill bar.

Check out the weapon types and who can use them on the GW2 Wiki (there's a nice chart if you scroll down) -
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Weapons

EDIT: There are tons of game play videos available online from the last couple years of conventions... how helpful that is in understanding how the game will play in person, I can't say. Most people who have played it say it is as good, or better, than they thought it would be. Some of the most basic, but best, gameplay videos available are the ones by CynicalBrit...if you haven't watched these, it definitely shows some of the key elements of GW2 as seen through the eyes of someone without any prior knowledge of the game. Also...they can be watched in 1080p...which is very nice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ttfOuxB6Gc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnVGEYGE8hs

He's a pretty well-respected voice in the gaming scene...and he fell in love with the game in one forty minute play session.

[Fozzik]

Originally Posted by AsheMan

Looked fine to me. I didn't see anything too different from what I see in other games. (Not being negative, just commenting) For some reason my work computer wouldn't load the last minute. Can the mesmer mesmerize other creatures? Like daze them or potentially control them?

We'll know much more tomorrow when they do the official profession reveal and put up the new page on the website.

[mmorpeegee]

Thanks for the info and linkage This game really is an exciting prospect :O

[Fozzik]

Official page is up...
http://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-gam...ssions/mesmer/

One highlight for me...they have instant-cast abilities they can set up which they can use while channeling another spell, without interrupting the channeling.

[mmorpeegee]

Rulebook.... ripped up!

[tdewey10]

Originally Posted by Fozzik

Official page is up...
http://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-gam...ssions/mesmer/

One highlight for me...they have instant-cast abilities they can set up which they can use while channeling another spell, without interrupting the channeling.

I remain uninterested in GW2 unless I am completely mistaken in its nature (not open world not a sandbox). But I do like new combat options - so this is interesting, and something that probably should have been added ages ago to some other MMO.

[AsheMan]

Originally Posted by mmorpeegee

Sorry for the spoiler, but one of the fights near the end of the video, he makes two teleport locations on the ground. A big nasty looking mob charges at him and he steps in to one of the teleports and pops out about 30 foot behind the mob. Then the mob turns around and charges again and he steps in and teleports back. Then he turns around and kills the mob with one big nuke. It's great to watch, but it does beg the question.. what is the point of teleporting around when you can just kill the mob with one spell? :P

Perhaps the teleport mechanic is tied to that particular damage spell. Maybe going through the portal charges it up or something. I have no clue. I'm just making stuff up.

[Fozzik]

Not open world? It's most definitely a huge open shared world.

As far as being a sandbox - because content is handled so differently it's hard to compare to traditional definitions of sandbox vs. theme park. It doesn't allow you to build cities or raise pigs...but it does allow you to just head out into the world and experience events as they happen...in basically any order you want. There's no golden path, and there's only direction if you want it. Otherwise you just go find adventure and phatlootz and play with whoever you find without any of the overhead normally associated with group play in other MMORPGs.

So I guess you might call it a free-range park. You can harvest any materials, and learn any or all crafting professions (along with discovering your own recipes, if you wish). You can take part in mini-games in cities, collect town clothes and dyes...Due to the level scaling and event scaling, the higher level you get, the more the world opens up to you and the more options you have of what to do, rather than only having content available in a narrow level range.

Also, because dynamic events are chained together and move with or without player intervention...the world changes and there's more than one thing to experience in any one area.

Quite a bit different from the theme parks we've been getting in the genre, where they pick the rides you go on, and the order in which you will ride them. GW2 will offer a tremendous amount of freedom and a lot of choices.

[Fozzik]

Originally Posted by AsheMan

Perhaps the teleport mechanic is tied to that particular damage spell. Maybe going through the portal charges it up or something. I have no clue. I'm just making stuff up.

It was just a video intended to show the portal spell in action. It's pretty easy to imagine a lot of uses for the spell on your own.

They added some more details in Q and A sessions today... the two portals can be as far as 200 feet apart...and your whole group can use them. The possibilities are endless.

[tdewey10]

Originally Posted by Fozzik

Not open world? It's most definitely a huge open shared world..

Really? I thought GW1 was massively instanced. GW2 doesn't have instances?

[tdewey10]

Originally Posted by tdewey10

Really? I thought GW1 was massively instanced. GW2 doesn't have instances?

NVM. I lookd it up. Dungeons are instanced and there's phasing in the cities and other areas.

This is probably a pass for me - instanced/phased content is just uninteresting to me for the most part.

[mmorpeegee]

GW1 was not really an MMO. I think it had some cities that players were all together in, but everywhere else was instanced. But I think GW2 they have tried to change that so it's a lot more like a traditional MMO. But yeah, it still has instancing.

Originally Posted by AsheMan

Perhaps the teleport mechanic is tied to that particular damage spell. Maybe going through the portal charges it up or something. I have no clue. I'm just making stuff up.

That would be cool I think what Fozz said is right though. The video was just showing off the class but not really how it works. But the teleport could be useful in other ways, like as an escape or a way to kite mobs maybe. Sure beats that crappy shadow step from EQ :P

[AsheMan]

It would have been better if the portals were oval shaped with one being blue and the other orange.

[Fozzik]

Originally Posted by tdewey10

NVM. I lookd it up. Dungeons are instanced and there's phasing in the cities and other areas.

This is probably a pass for me - instanced/phased content is just uninteresting to me for the most part.

There's no phasing in cities. The only phasing is with resource nodes...so each person gets their own and there's no stealing or racing for resources. I always hated finding a rare node, then having to clear some mobs...and somebody else swoops in and harvests while I'm in combat. That will never happen in GW2.

Cities are zoned (because they are huge and full of things happening), but they are not instanced.

The only instancing in the game is the dungeons (focused five-man content), and the personal story area in your home city. You get a section of your home town which is all yours...where some of your personal story (think Single-player RPG) will play out, and it will change permanently based on your actions and choices. Choose to save the orphanage or the hospital...one will be burned to the ground in your home town instance, the other will still exist and the NPCs will thank you as you go by...that sort of thing.

The bulk of the content in the game is made up of open-world dynamic events...which are an entirely new way to experience content. They are somewhat based on public quests from games like WAR and Rift...but they go many steps farther, and are going to completely change the way you experience day-to-day gameplay in an MMORPG. Typical dynamic events will scale in challenge to handle between 1 and 10 players... but some events will be massive and scale from something like 10 to 100 players (like huge open-world dragon battles). Very few MMORPGs do large-scale open-world content like this for PvE.

Dynamic events are set up in chains, so that you can change the face of the world in a persistent way. If the centaurs come and destory the village, it stays destroyed until players take it back. Push the centaurs back to their homes...and they will have to slowly rebuild before attacking again. Events scale in challenge in a very immediate and intelligent way...they scale up and down very quickly (matter of seconds) based on the participation of players. Scaling can involve the number of mobs or spawns, the power of mobs, or even the abilities mobs can use. Dynamic events provide rewards based on participation, and there are usually multiple paths to completion (you can advance and event towards completion by fighting mobs, picking things up from the ground, etc). Dynamic events are just constantly happening in the world...the centaurs are actually attacking the town and knocking things down and setting fires. There's no NPC you have to talk to in order to accept a dynamic event... you'll just see townspeople shouting for help and beckoning you...you run in and start helping, and immediately start getting credit for participation.

GW1 and GW2 are entirely, completely, totally different games. Throw out everything you've heard or knew about the first game. The only thing that carries over is lore, some of the races, and the names of places in the world.

[Fozzik]

Originally Posted by AsheMan

It would have been better if the portals were oval shaped with one being blue and the other orange.

Yes.

[mmorpeegee]

I didn't even bother trying GW1 (friends did though). But GW2 is a must buy for me.