Guild Wars Q&A
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Q: We were immediately surprised at how arcadey Guild Wars looks and plays, and Fable was an instant reference point for us. What are you trying to achieve with this less hardcore MMORPG style?
A: I'm really glad you had that impression, because that was something we were shooting for. One of the main reasons for the visual and gameplay style is that if you're not into the level-grinding mindset then what you're looking for is the minute-by-minute experience to be fun. We have a mantra: 'What am I doing right now?' It's not about 'what am I working for?' or 'what will I be doing when I finally get to level X?' Whatever the answer is, it should be fun.
We've designed the combat system to be very fast and quick and we wanted to strike a balance between twitch games or 3D fighting games and MMO games where you set a target, click a few buttons and see how it comes out. We wanted combat to be something you managed, something you felt like you were really doing. When you launch a really skilful Guild Wars player their hands are never still. They're continuously managing their health and magic and engaging in the act of combat. And that skill doesn't just come from sitting in front of your PC and level-grinding for hundreds of hours - in Guild Wars we've limited the effect of levelling up so players have to rely on their ability, not how much free time they have. It works: we've found that the speed and accessibility of the action and the animation really adds to the adrenaline and excitement of the experience.
Of course, there are financial reasons too. In general, even if you look at the most successful MMORPG games the total number of players is nowhere near the penetration of a hit console title or even a hit PC title that's not an MMO. While 400,000 people may subscribe to EverQuest, 3 or 4 million people played Diablo. We want to give as many gamers as possible the game they want.
