Thoughts on Guild Wars

23Apr09

As a long time player of Guild Wars I recently decided to throw together a summary of  development ideas, and the lessons I view as important to be learned for the development of Guild Wars 2.

Read on after the jump.

This is written from the perspective of someone who has mostly played PvP, though there are some PvE concerns mixed in.

PvP Balance Feedback
There should be much better avenues for balance feedback, for which I could make many suggestions but I will leave it at that for now. Balance updates should be much more frequent, and with much more of a delicate touch. Small regular tweaks, rather than bi-monthly dartboard sessions. The skill balancer should play the game competitively.

Expansion Classes
The balance problems caused by trying to wedge the expansion classes into the game have been huge.
Examples:

Assassins – If you take an Assassin in your build then you are committed to splitting. If put in a position where you can’t split effectively you are pretty sure to lose against an evenly matched opponent, if in a position where splitting is favorable then you have a major advantage. They limit your options and play style, which for ladder play isn’t healthy. It makes games more of a dice roll based on opponents build and map, and much less about actually matching skill.
Solution: Assassins, as a melee class, should have had better armor. Dagger damage should have been less variable to make combo damage more consistent and remove the instagib ability. Better armor, no shadow stepping, more consistent damage. That in my opinion is a more interesting class. It’s also called a Warrior.

Ritualists – Originally played for use of spirits, which were a pretty poor mechanic in PvP (as demonstrated much earlier by Ranger nature rituals) and were removed. Later the only thing keeping rits in the game was Splinter and Ancestors Rage for VoD farming. The class was largely built around spirits, and (rightfully) removing those from play basically crippled the entire concept. Weapon spells were also a much questioned mechanic, essentially being irremovable enchantments.
Solution: This class really needs redesigning from the ground up. Without spirits it really only has a place as a Restoration Rit, which loses out to a Monk.

Paragons – Since the the horribly broken Motivation line was nuked, Paragons are basically just Warrior damage at range. That is, Warrior damage without the concern for positioning, extension, ability to split, or any kind of advanced play.
Solution: Much like the Ritualist this class really has no clear purpose. It is either better than a Warrior, in which case people wont take Warriors, or it isn’t, and people wont take Paragons.

Dervishes – Another poor Warrior duplicate. The Avatars were an absolutely ridiculous idea for PvP, having such a massive swing in power based on the recharge of one skill. Aside from those it was a poorly armored Warrior with AoE, which is fine for PvE, but outside of old VoD farming gimmicks that’s pretty useless for PvP.
Solution: Avatars would be far easier to balance as a permanent, irremovable effect. Melandru should have made you immune to conditions, Grenth should have ignored blocking Enchantments, Dwayna should have been immune to Necromancer hexes and Lyssa immune to Mesmer hexes. They should not have had AoE on all attacks, and they should have had better base armor. Still not particularly attractive for ladder play, but much more interesting in tournaments.

The problem with these classes is that they are all narrower duplicates of existing classes. This means Izzy has to give them something stupidly powerful to make people actually use them, and nine times out of ten that results in a gimmick. This problem arises from the fact that the game was designed around the six core classes, which were well designed, well balanced, flexible and had obvious purpose. Anything else tacked on at the end was always going to be a problem.

If Anet plans to follow the same expansion formula for Guild Wars 2 I would strongly suggest not adding new classes to the PvP side of the game with expansions. If you cover all of the roles in the initial release then any later class will result in a balance nightmare, if you don’t cover all of the roles in the initial release then the PvP will probably suck until you do.

Monk, Mesmer, Ranger, Warrior, Elementalist. These are the only classes that have really worked for the game since release. They are all flexible, and all serve a well defined purpose. Defense, Disruption, Flexibility, Damage, Utility.

Solution: Have core classes in the release game, and allow only those to compete in GvG. It’s an ugly solution, but I simply do not see additional classes ever getting properly integrated into PvP.

Skills with Exponential Power
A lot of degenerate builds have been based around skills or skill types that only become powerful when you bring multiple copies, and in some cases this has crippled classes, excluding them from anything BUT degenerate builds. Examples:

Hexes – Aside from the few active hexes (where application is more important than duration) hexes are badly implemented for PvP. They are balanced with duration in mind, but in order to make a hex stick you need to stack it. This means that a single hexer is weak, but gets exponentially more powerful when you start adding more.
Solution: Shorten the duration on hexes, increase their power. Remove cheap cover hexes (Parasitic Bond). Consider limiting stack size.

Enchantments – The converse argument to the above. You want to stack them on your own team to make them stick.
Solution: Shorten the duration on enchantments, increase their power. Consider limiting stack size.

Spike skills – Skills that take a chunk of damage will almost always be worked into a spike build.
Solution: Most spike builds have actually been perfectly beatable, with balance updates. In most cases the solution is simply swifter balance updates.

Necromancers are a prime example of this issue effecting a class. Their strengths in PvP? Hexes and spike. A Hex heavy Necro bar is useless outside of a hex build. A spike heavy Necro bar is useless outside of a spike build. For this reason Necromancers have almost always only been used in degenerate builds. Izzy has repeatedly tried to force them into the game with awkward misdirected buffs, but has never really addressed the core reason why they are underplayed.

Searing Flames is a good example of this issue on a single skill level. It both sets people on fire in an AoE radius, and damages people that are on fire already. This means one copy of it is going to be pretty mediocre, but when you have three or four you can all trigger damage off each others burning, and keep pumping out damage.

Elements of Chance
Catapult maps, NPC reactions… Generally any situation where a ‘dice roll’ can effect the outcome of a match is a bad idea. I don’t really think this needs much more of an explanation.

Skill Modifiers
If you are going to balance skills around recharge, casting time and cost then you need to be really, really careful when you introduce equipment or skills which effect recharge, casting time or cost. I can’t honestly think of any situations where making a skill cast faster or recharge faster has resulted in anything but a gimmick. Cost is a tricky one because energy management is important to the game. GoLE for example has always been a staple skill in most balanced builds.
Solution: Remove skills or equipment that significantly effects recharge or casting time. It doesn’t really add anything to the game, and can cause no end of problems.

GvG Maps
If you are going to have maps that massively favor splitting, shadow stepping,pure 8v8 play or AoE then you really need to think about how that will affect ladder play. All is fair in tournament play when both teams know what is coming, but facing a million Dervishes and Fire Eles on Burning for round after round can be a bit of a buzzkill when playing on the ladder.

I like the idea of having home maps and away maps, and how that mechanic works, and I like having narrower maps to mix up tournament play. I don’t think you can restrict those maps from regular use because people do need to practice playing on them.

Solution: When an opponent is found, and you get the final count down, have it display who you are fighting and on which map. In this time allow skill swapping. This will allow you to have pre-planned basic modifications to combat any popular gimmick. It will also add a very healthy and fun element of metagaming to the otherwise completely random ladder play. This is a more complicated solution than I would like, but it’s the only way I can think of to address the problem.

PvP and PvE Skill Split
I always saw this as a temporary band-aid fix for balance in Guild Wars. A way to appease the masses and move on. I now think more and more that it is an inevitable inclusion for Guild Wars 2. What other way is there to avoid the issue of stepping on each others toes? Even the plethora of PvE only skills doesn’t solve the problem.

Visual Recognition
Cape trims were an amazing addition to the game. A fantastic and well executed idea. Most of the issues people have with cape trims are actually balance related, with the number of gimmick guilds that have managed to obtain a gold. The other issue is the selling of these gold cape guilds, or invites to them, for large amounts of money. Not only does this devalue the reward, but it also encourages scamming on a huge level.
Solution: See previous suggestions for balance. Attach gold capes to the accounts, not the guild. Visual recognition on a player level rather than a guild level would have much more meaning. All members of a winning guild who played in one or more mAT rounds should get a gold cape associated with their account. It should be non-transferable.

I think visual recognition is an underrated usually under developed aspect of games in general, and should be taken much further than just cape trims. Titles and 15k armor are step in the right direction, but focus needs to be put on achievements rather than grind.

Solution: The game needs to be more goal oriented. For example, titles for completing X mission the fastest, or with taking the least damage. Title for being the first to complete a ridiculously hard quest chain… And so on. Base additional visual rewards (armor sets, capes, titles, weapons) off of this. Do not allow rewards to be transferred to other players, as this only serves to devalue them. At the same time keep rewards purely visual, with no power advantages.

Balance Mobs
This has been better since Nightfall, but still not perfect. Mobs should generally have a better mix of classes. A couple of Monks, Warriors, maybe a Mesmer and an Ele or two… It would remove the stupidity of getting teamspiked by a group of 8 level 25 Elementalist monsters, and would give PvE players who hope to move into PvP some better preparation. It would also make gimmick builds in PvE less powerful, requiring people to think more about approach and roles.
Solution: Mix up classes more in mobs. Stop people steamrolling through advanced areas with simple gimmick builds. Put more emphasis on skill and playing as a team in PvE.

Summary and General Themes
Ultimately it seems I am in favor of a greater mechanical divide between PvE and PvP. People could argue that would prevent PvE players from getting into PvP, by making it more confusing and alien to them. I disagree.

I think most of the problems with the PvE and PvP divide in Guild Wars stem from the opposite – the two being too closely linked. This meant the two sides were constantly stepping on each others toes, with basic things like balance updates being hotly debated. This developed aggressive attitudes on both sides, and turned the small gap into a chasm. Most PvP players held so much disdain for the PvE crowd that there was no way they would help them get into PvP, and most PvE players had an equal amount of disdain which discouraged them from even trying.

I don’t think having more of a divide in terms of mechanics is going to make people any less likely to get into PvP. I think PvE needs more references to PvP to raise awareness of it, and more incentives for people to get into it. I also think PvE should offer better training for PvP, but without actually forcing people to PvP when they may not be ready for it.

With regards to skill and class balance there needs to be a MUCH greater stress on purpose. Skills need a defined and unique purpose, and so do classes. Without that you get guaranteed balance problems that wont go away until you address the issue of purpose properly. The lack of defined purpose in balancing is exactly the reason why some skills or classes simply never see play outside of gimmicks.

Make the game more rewarding on a goal based level, rather than just adding layers of grind. That goes for PvP and PvE.

Filed under: Game Design, Personal   |  1 Comment
Tags: Balance, feedback, Game Design, Guild Wars, Pve, PvP