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Death, where is thy sting?
This week we shook things in the MMO world up a bit with designer Jon Peters’ article about how we’re approaching healing and death in Guild Wars 2. The announcement of “downed” abilities, reduced death penalties, and the lack of a dedicated healer class got people talking. Let’s take a look at what people are saying in this week’s link round-up!
- Game Informer is intrigued by the possibilities implied by Jon’s article, including the redefinition of what it means to play a support role in the absence of a healing class.
- Kotaku got the lowdown from Eric, Jon, and designer Isaiah Cartwright in this article which takes a look at how our new healing and death system puts the fun back into combat!
- PC Gamer talked to Eric Flannum and Jon Peters about how Guild Wars 2 dismantles the holy trinity of tank/damage/healer in this in-depth article full of juicy details.
- Rubi over at Massively takes a detailed look at how fluid damage, support, and control “roles” will play out in Guild Wars 2, while MMORPG.com thinks Jon Peters’ article is “a surefire hit,” and Shack News approves of our “dramatic execution” of death and healing in combat.
- Ten Ton Hammer asks “is Guild Wars 2 the soothing balm for the sting of MMOg deaths?”
- Jon’s article was equally well received by players and press in the EU. Eurogamer appreciates how this “radical revision of standard combat and grouping mechanics” will make it easier to pull groups together.
- The French language sites Gamekult and Jeuxvideo both were excited about this week’s news (or so I am told – no parlez Francais) and the German sites Gamona and Buffed were equally psyched, but in an entirely different language. The Swedish gaming site nukem.se examined how the downed game mechanic makes PvP more exciting, and the Italian site Multiplayer.it was impressed with our approach to healing and death as well.
- Tycho over at Penny Arcade gets the last word this week, with this quote from his blog post this week : “I’ve read and re-read every article that breaks the surface of the refurbished Guild Wars 2 presence. I don’t care if they ever launch the game at this point. It’s already contributed to the health of the genre simply by being a judging, omnipresent force.”
We’re definitely going to launch the game, but we appreciate the kind words, regardless!
Thus ends another exciting week here at ArenaNet! We’re excited to see that our new take on healing and death is being so well-received by gamers that are looking for something new. Speaking of new, we’ve got more cool stuff to announce next week – we’ll see you then!