Last year, Arena.net/NCSoft was kind enough to send me review copies of Guild Wars: Prophecies and Eye of the North. I tried, but with so much happening I never made it past level 14 so never saw Eye of the North. I didn’t really touch the game again until November – when I started playing with my 8 and 11-year old boys. I had tried the game at launch and it wasn’t for me – the continuous instancing drove me crazy at the time and I’m simply not a PvP fan, but now it works for me and for completely different reasons than (I believe) were intended when it was launched.

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We got these new screenshots in from the GW folks. I want to run around in armor like that!!

What is Your Quest?
By Ben Miller

In designing Eye of the North, our first true expansion for the Guild Wars online RPG, we wanted to improve on what worked well in the past, throw out those quest types that gamers routinely hate, design new quests and new quest types that players had never seen before, and give people more options so they could play the game in many different ways, instead of forcing all players down the same path. In short, when it came to quests, we wanted, in the immortal words of Graham Chapman, “to seek the holy grail.”

Going into GW:EN we knew we were creating an expansion geared for max level characters, which meant we could design a game with no newbie area and avoid having to teach new players how to play the game. This gave us the opportunity to create quests that really push the envelope. With this in mind, we committed all of our questing resources to making sure that each and every quest provided players with something insanely cool, or new, or different, or, better yet, all three.

Improving on the Best, Burying the Rest

Going into quest design for Guild Wars: Eye of the North, we started with two basic tenets: First of all, we wanted the rewards to matter. This is all level 20 content, and we wanted players to get a huge sense of accomplishment every time they completed a quest. In short, we wanted quest rewards that mattered to level 20 characters. One of the main ways we are accomplishing this is to bring back the quest reward most requested by Guild Wars players—skills. Many GW:EN quests will reward you with new skills that you can then add to your Skill Bar and use on your further adventures. This is one of the most direct ways of giving players something that can improve their character, and we’re happy to be able to bring it back to the game.

The other dictum we carried with us into the development of GW:EN was that quests should be varied and fun. We wanted to avoid designing any delivery (or “fedex”) quests at all. In fact, we put a sign on the door to the quest design area that said: “Every time you make a fedex quest, Abaddon will feast on puppy eyes.” We want the quests in Eye of the North to present players with new goals, new challenges, and new ways to play the game.
For example, as you progress into the Norn, Asuran, and Dwarven areas, you will find the local people enjoy competing against one another in games of skill, and you will be invited to participate. In the Norn lands, Magni the Bison, one of the mightiest heroes in Norn history, has set up a fighting tournament that will pit you against not only some great Norn warriors, but also some of the greatest heroes (and villains) in the history of the world. If you’re good enough, you’ll get the chance to fight Magni, himself, and see if you have what it takes to defeat the unbeaten champion of the north. Who knows, you might even convince some of those you defeat to join you later on in your quests.

The more cerebral Asura have developed a game called polymock, and they’ll be more than happy to teach you how to play (although you may have to convince the acerbic polymock master that your puny, human mind can grasp all of the intricacies of the game). In this game, you match your carefully-chosen game pieces in one-on-one battles against your opponent’s pieces. Win and you could collect new pieces to use in future polymock games. Lose and you risk terse derision from a wide variety of (mostly) Asuran polymock players.

If Dwarven boxing is more your style, you can hang around with Kilroy Stonekin, who’s come to the Far Shiverpeaks to settle his old debts. Jabs, punches, and uppercuts used in a flurry of combos will rule the day as you and Kilroy fight your way through the pugilistic circuit, collecting debts and taking names along the way. But the hand-to-hand combat doesn’t stop there. Imagine what it would be like going up against a Destroyer using nothing but your brass knuckles . . .

These games bring another piece of Guild Wars history into the game: In designing them, we hoped to get a sense of the excitement players have when playing mini-games during our annual festival events . . . but these games will go on all year ’round.

Who’s Your Quest-Giver?

Another major change we instituted for Guild Wars: Eye of the North was to tie nearly every quest outside the main narrative to one of the groups in the northlands. When you complete these optional quests, not only will you gain experience, items, skills, and gold, you will also build up your reputation with that group. While not necessary to progressing through the main storyline of the game, you will reap benefits from expanding your goodwill with groups like the Dwarves, Norn, and Asura. Each race possesses special skills they guard closely, only divulging to those whom they can trust. Increase your reputation and your effectiveness in these skills increases as well.

Quests are just one way to build your reputation with the various groups. You can increase it by participating in the combat games mentioned above and by performing tasks important to a particular group. These tasks go beyond simple quests and might include things like killing particular “bosses” that have been causing problems in the area, or perhaps solving more intellectual problems, like deciphering Charr battle plans. Just about everything you do will have an impact on your reputation with the various groups inhabiting the lands in Guild Wars: Eye of the North.

Dungeon Redux

As you delve deep into the 18 multi-level dungeons we’ve designed for Eye of the North, you’ll have even more opportunities to build your reputation, as most of these dungeons contain quests you can complete for the various groups, and some even contain items those groups need to survive. Collect enough of these and watch your reputation rise.

We talked a lot about dungeons in the first Developer Diary article, but let me touch on a few points relating to dungeon quests. When you enter a dungeon and begin a quest, don’t expect to stumble around in the dark. You’ll have all of the same tools available in the dungeons that you have when doing quests above ground. We learned a lot since designing Sorrow’s Furnace and have built even better dungeon experiences throughout GW:EN. For example, the mission map (also referred to as the “U Map”) will uncover as you explore, giving you the ability to see where you are at all times and where you need to go.

Guild Wars players who have enjoyed the popular Sorrow’s Furnace can expect the same dynamic experience they had while playing through that massive dungeon—each GW:EN dungeon is populated with unique monsters and NPCs with their own stories to tell—but as with all of the quests in Eye of the North, we have expanded the boundaries of RPG play in the Depths. Each dungeon has its own story to tell, which you’ll learn as you explore its depths, interact with its NPCs, conquer its challenges, and reap its unique rewards.

What’s in it for Me?

In the past, many Guild Wars players made a bee-line through the story missions to get to the end of the game as quickly as possible. And while that style of play will always be viable, we want to reward those players who take their time to explore and enjoy the rest of the game world. This is one of the reasons for the PvE-only skills we are introducing to the game in Eye of the North.

These skills will only be available in the roleplaying part of the game and won’t be usable in PvP play. Most of the skills are tied to one of the groups you can gain reputation with, and you will learn them during quests or by becoming friendlier with that group. They will be directly tied to what you are doing in the game at the time, and will give those players who enjoy exploring the entire game world a deeper understanding of the culture of each group and more variety in the way they can accomplish their goals.

We are being very careful to make sure these skills don’t unbalance the game, so don’t worry that you will have to unlock certain “rep skills” in order to finish the game or even a certain quest. We are not trying to dictate player builds. We are simply trying to give everyone more choices in how they play the game, without unbalancing PvP play with a huge influx of new skills. So, have fun, explore, take on some side quests, and take your time enjoying all the goodies we’re dropping into the world for you to find.

Have it Your Way

Of course, this wouldn’t be a Guild Wars game without a main plotline weaving its way throughout the game. You can expect a series of quests that drive the central story of Eye of the North (as well as numerous subplots) from beginning to end. But by providing a wide variety of side quests, dungeon quests, and events, we hope to encourage players to go “off book.”

But even if you stray pretty far off the main story, don’t worry; we are providing players with direction throughout the game. There will always be indicators on how to get back onto the main story, but if you’re having fun fighting bare-fisted with Kilroy, feel free to do so as long as you like. The main story will still be there when you’re ready to continue your journey.

The maxim we took into this design cycle was: "play how you want, when you want, with who you want." Over the years, we’ve gotten a good feel for the amount of time players spend in the game, so we are providing quests for every level from casual to hard core. Plus, we’ve built content that can be enjoyed solo or in groups. What we hope is that every time you come into the game, no matter what type of player you are or how much time you have to play, there will be something you can do.

In GW:EN, the world is alive and there’s always something happening. Whether it’s just you and your Heroes or you and your eight friends, there’s something for everybody in the quests. From unlocking the Norn tournament Heroes to finding that lost polymock piece no Asura has seen in centuries; from delving into dungeons that rival Sorrow’s Furnace to uncovering the mystery of the great earthquakes wracking Tyria, we think you will agree that these are the most rewarding quests we’ve ever done for Guild Wars.

Let's try these screenies in the right size! They're *awesome*!

It’s been two short years since our first game, Guild Wars Prophecies, launched. In that time we’ve released two standalone campaigns that have expanded lore, increased the number of playable professions, widened skill sets, and have given players more control over their party members. Our current project, Guild Wars: Eye of the North, is our first true expansion, and one that we truly feel is a fitting coda that will guide players through the end of one epic story into the next evolution of the series, Guild Wars 2. We want Guild Wars to go out with a bang and leave a lasting impression on players, so we’ve decided to delve deep into RPG history in an attempt to recreate the thrill of the classic dungeon crawl.

Dungeons are a staple of the RPG genre. Ask any longtime roleplayer and he’ll get misty-eyed and recall tense adventures in underground civilizations, navigating shadowy passageways and unearthing untold fortune. We knew it was the next logical addition, but we had to be sure it was implemented in such a way that was new and relevant to Guild Wars fans. So, what makes a GW: EN dungeon more exciting than your average hole in the ground? Lots of things, actually.

The labyrinthine underground known as the Depths is comprised of a vast network of passageways that touch continents near and far. GW: EN dungeons are not your typical dingy caves, mind you. They are rich with plant life, decorated with ornate carvings and majestic statues, and home to fantastic creatures. One of the biggest challenges our art department faced was to make each dungeon feel unique, while at the same time capturing the sense of an enclosed, sometimes claustrophobic, environment. Unlike the wide-open plains of Elona, groups will have less room to maneuver around obstacles. Enemies travel in high concentrations, so there will be little time to think or relax while pressing onward to the next objective. That stated, some dungeons are simply huge. Your party might trek through twisting pathways one moment, only to be spilled out into a huge open cavern the next.

The very concept of dungeons carries a lot of baggage. We had to distill all the things that make dungeons cool while removing the parts that wouldn’t work for our purposes. New design, art, and programming challenges love to rear their hideous, hydra-like heads every step of the way in game development, and dungeons have been no exception. We got our bearings and started everything in parallel, quickly prototyping and implementing dungeon mechanics such as traps, while level designers roughed out the general layouts for the rooms that would be pieced together to form the unique layouts. Designers wrote up quests and stories to ground these places in the world with their own characters and worked hand-in-hand with the writers to polish the dialogue and make the NPCs live and breathe. The entire process was started simultaneously. The result was a sharing of ideas between different areas of development that will hopefully make this feature greater than the sum of its parts.

Each dungeon instance is connected by ancient magical technology called an Asura gate. These portals were developed by a race new to the Guild Wars universe—the Asura. Since players will have to the opportunity to adventure as Asura in Guild Wars 2, we had to think ahead about their design. How large would they be? As subterranean creatures, what should they look like? How do they talk? What societal rules should they follow? What gameplay experiences will they offer that people will want to play as them? After months of discussion, planning, sketching, and writing, the Asura slowly materialized into the stout, intelligent, cocky little buggers you see today. Some might come off as self-important—condescending, even—but as a race the Asura can back it up. They are crafty, resourceful, and adept at magic. And they are an integral component of Eye of the North.

The Asura have connected many races and cultures regardless of distance via the Asura gate system. Unlike a standard portal that links contiguous land masses together, an Asura gate is used to travel great distances not possible through conventional means or standard spell casting. So while the entirety of the Depths is broken up into segments, one can migrate from lands as far away as Cantha and Elona to Ascalon and beyond, provided the system is running in tip-top shape. Travel isn’t always easy, though, as recent events have transformed the once placid corridors into a veritable minefield of death.

Players stumble upon this mass transit system early in the game, only to find its creators fleeing madly from a cadre of Destroyers hell-bent on their demise. These horrific manifestations do not reason. They are ugly, angular, fiery incarnations resistant to heat and afraid of nothing. Their purpose is singular—to purge the Depths of all living creatures in preparation of the arrival of the Great Destroyer, a fearsome beast of Dwarven legend. Many battles will be waged below the surface, some for personal gain and others at the behest of new allies.

Where blood is shed, wealth is stolen. There are 18 unique multilevel dungeons that make up the Depths, each populated with its own monsters, environmental hazards and traps, and phat loot. Only the brave dare to harvest riches from the darkest corners of these caverns, and with good reason. End bosses are smarter, faster, tougher, and possess new and unique skills and cunning A.I. developed specifically for this expansion. For example, one chamber might be guarded by a colossal spider. Before you can attack you must first lure it into range. A quick scan of the area reveals several egg sacks of her young. Using a magical flamethrower acquired from an Asura ally, you set fire to her brood. Enraged, she drops from her perch with bloody vengeance and launches an all-out assault on your party. Conventional attacks are slow and cumbersome against the beast. Using a skill learned from a wise Norn shaman, you call upon the bear spirit, who supercharges your attacks and fortifies your Health reserves. This is just one theoretical example of what is possible in GW: EN. You will encounter many such situations while exploring the dungeon system. Since you’ll be forming alliances with different groups and characters, you’ll learn a plethora of PvE-only skills that, when combined with your normal abilities, will give you the tools to overcome the situation at hand. While you won’t always be required to use these skills to defeat a tough boss, employing these new tactics and harnessing elements of the environment will definitely give you the upper hand.

One criticism that often gets leveled at online RPGs is that actions lack consequence. When a follower bites the dust they are just brought back to life in the next zone. Not so in dungeons. Actions have permanence, so if your guide gets crushed by a rock trap, eaten by a monster, or immolated by lava, that’s it. You’re on your own.

This isn’t to say that if you screw up it’s time to shout, “Game over, man. Game over!” in your best Private Hudson voice. You can still exit a dungeon for another fresh attempt at victory or resurrect your own party members—a useful feature for the more casual player who might not get it right the first time. But while you are in the subterranean confines of a particular dungeon, the rule of consequence applies. In other words, dungeons are chained instances. Despite the many hardships and pitfalls you will encounter, there will be other opportunities for success. You might stumble across a secret prison camp in your travels. Should you choose to free the captives, you will earn new allies that will help you accomplish your goal. It’ll always be possible to trudge ahead regardless of what happens—you’ll just have to figure out the best way forward.

This is just a sample of the exciting features included in Guild Wars: Eye of the North. We’ll share more as the game nears release this fall.

There's a high-level run called "Drok's Run". Its a player-name for a "jaunt" through three or four zones filled with level 24+ creatures (for those who don't know, the max player level in GW is 20). These zones connect a lower level town with the largest high-level town outside of Ascalon (the main city at the beginning).

The run through these zones is definitely entertaining. What more can you ask for... super high-level monsters that you haven't seen before, death and mayhem repeatedly, and at the end a waypoint to a great city filled with lots of good armor and skills. Death and mayhem is the part that draws everyone, right? Well, doing Drok's Run you get to see a lot of monsters that you won't encounter again for quite a few levels and you get to watch a bunch of high-level players run for their lives. Hahah!

Basically, it works like this... A few high level players get together and drag a bunch of low level players along. The lowbies die early (one attempt I died within sight of the starting gate), but they are there to draw fire away from the guides.

The guides goal is to run, run, run... oh and then run some more. Don't stop until you see the light at the end of the... uh, well, until they see the portal to the next zone. It took us at least ten or fifteen tries to get through and a couple hours of gameplay.

One good feature is that while you are dead, if you click on other members of your group you can watch the game from their perspective. So at least you can see what they are doing and how the progress is going.

Once through the Run, you reach the Dwarven city of Droknar which has high-level armor, lots of trainers, and tons of players selling stuff. And since you can easily jump from town to town using your map, you can come back and visit any time you want without having to go through Drok's Run again. Though the area certainly looks entertaining once you reach 20!

I recently began playing GuildWars again. I originally purchased it over a year ago but never really got into it much and ended up quitting within a short period of time. But recently a friend of mine, who happens to have been playing it for two years, suggested I come back and we'd run missions together. So, after reminding me six or seven times, and then showing me where to download the client (I couldnt' find my disc), I finally logged back into the game and started playing.

We quickly ran through several of the story missions and I found myself having a great time and then logging in during the day and doing the side-quests or exploring. What have I found? Well, I'm having a surprising amount of fun.

Tonight I finally made it out of the Ascalon lands which are mostly ruins and fire and populated with lots of beasts including the Charr. Tonight, however, I made it to Yak's Bend, a small outpost in the middle of the snowy mountains. And I encountered all new foes (such as the one below) to fight.

Yak's Bend is special, not just for its fantastic name, but also for the fact that you get the ability to have more henchmen in your party, up to five instead of three. And there are new types available including a Brawler, a Cultist, and an Enchanter.

I also learned about crafting tonight and have discovered that you can salvage magical components from some weapons which you can then double-click apply onto your existing weapons. Now this makes the game much more entertaining! Sell for gold, salvage for crafting components, or salvage for magical upgrades! A tough choice indeed!

Well, I stopped playing long enough to write this blog and now I'm headed back in. The ice golems got the best of me this last time so its time for some payback, warrior style!

I can't really say much about GW lately other then I've made level 5 with my assassin, not much else has been going on. The quests aren't extreme and can be handled pretty much solo with the correct pick of npc backups. I haven't joined any guilds due to my sporatic game playing. Plus for some reason, watching and listening to the player population gives me the impression I'm playing with people no older then twenty, and way younger then thirteen.

One thing I hope for is that the next expansion will be way cheaper then the last. I feel that for the new player they should pay the full price. For the older player we should only pay for an upgrade. If they keep costing $50, then I'll be forced to rethink about purchasing them.

With that in mind, have a great time till next I blog.