Guild Wars

1. Guild Wars A Comprehensive Game Evaluation By: Michael Alff

2. Guild Wars • Campaigns • Two new campaigns released every year. • 1st Campaign: Guild Wars – Prophecies (Released 4/28/05) – Focus of Evaluation • 2nd Campaign: Guild Wars – Factions (Released 4/28/06) • 3rd Campaign: Guild Wars – Nightfall (World Release 10/27/06) • Developed By: ArenaNet • Subsidiary Of / Published By: NCsoft • MSRP: $49.99 USD • ESRB Content Rating: Teen Violence • User Agreement: Children under the age of 13 are not permitted to play. • Classification • Competitive/Cooperative Online Role Playing Game (CORPG) • Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG)

3. Game Requirements

4. Getting The Game • Retail Purchase • Packaging with Fancy Artwork • Access Key • Installation CD • Game Manual • Game Story • Profession Overviews • Hero Overviews (Major NPC) • Enemy Overviews • Poor Job on “How to Play” • Quick Reference Guide • Keyboard / Mouse Layout • Attribute Point Allocation Guide • Skill Type Descriptions • Purchased Online • Downloadable Software • Available At: www.PlayNC.com • Access Key • Online Manuals Available

5. 1. Download Software / Insert CD 2. Run Installation Wizard 3. Provide Installation Location 4. Accept User Agreement 5. Enter Access Key 6. Play Game Installation

6. Game Story • Setting • Ancient Content of Tyria • Kingdoms and Magic rule the land • Strongly associated to many mythical gods • Starts in peace time (Pre-Sear) • Introductory Training Area • Using Skills • Setting Attributes • How to advance in the game • Choosing Secondary Profession • Major Game Event Searing • Meteor shower like event reaps havoc across Ascolon, a kingdom of Tyria. • Starts main part of game.

7. Game Story Continued • Main Game (Post-Sear) • Start off defending Ascolon against a group of invading beast like enemies, the Char. • Travel to nearby land Kryta and liberate inhabitants from the White Mantle, a cruel group of elite knights in power. • Advance to a jungle-like area where player learns of an evil race known as the Mursaat, set on conquering Tyria, by releasing an ancient evil army. • Travel to the Desert to “ascend” and become worthy of defending Tyria against its greatest threat. • Head off to Hell, a volcanic wasteland, to destroy the Mursaat, and ultimately save all of Tyria fulfilling the Flame Seeker Prophecies.

8. Game Modes • All Gaming Exist on ArenaNet Server • Player vs. Environment (PvE) • Story Driven • Start at level 1 and advance to level 20 (Max). • Cooperative Missions • Advance game story • Main objective of PvE is to complete all • Standard Mission & Bonus Mission • No Team Re-spawn • NPC Quest • Between Coop Missions • Can be a prerequisite to a Coop Mission • Team Re-spawn • Buy / Earn Skills, Weapons, Armor • Player vs. Player (PvP) • Start out at level 20 • Multiple types of competition: Survival, Capture and Hold, Points Based, Etc. • Up to 16 players (8 vs. 8) • Guild Ladder Ranking (PvP Scoring) • Items / Skills available for use earned in PvE

9. Character Professions • Each Guild Wars Character is comprised of 6 base classes where a primary and secondary profession are chosen: • Elementalist – spell casting class using air, water, earth, and fire magic for both damage and defense. • Ranger – Ranged attacker, master of pets and traps and sprits that effect surrounding players and enemies. • Warrior – Short ranged melee attacker, heavily armored. • Monk – Heals and restores players in party, also smites enemies with holy damage. • Necromancer – Utilizes corpses of fallen enemies / party members, curse caster. • Mesmer – spell casting class, master of illusion, manipulates targets actions against them. • Entire set of primary professions skills and attributes. • Limited subset of secondary professions skills and attributes.

10. Game Play • Goal Oriented Game • Goals Become more difficult as player progresses. • Focus on one mission / quest at a time. • Completing missions /quests opens new goals. • Team play is a must for this game. • Group with other players to achieve common goals. • Group with computer controlled henchmen. • Create or join a guild. • Mix of different character types on a team. • Gain Experience • Completing Quest and Co-op Missions • Triggers Leveling (20 Max) • PvE Scoring (doesn’t really matter)

11. Game Play Continued • Items • Collect items dropped from fallen foes. • Exchange items for gold or keep for use. • 5 Classes of Items • Plain - Abundant, Low Value • Blue – Frequent, Medium Value • Purple – Less Frequent, Medium Value • Gold – Semi-Rare, High Value  Standard for a good weapon. • Green – Extra Rare, Enormous Value  Obtained from bosses only. • Buy / Sell / Trade with NPC or Human Player • Armor • Use materials and gold to craft customizable armor. • Different Modifications (ex. 20% resist cold damage) • Upgradeable using Runes. (1 upgrade per armor piece) • Enormous Selection. • Weapons • All professions can use all weapons • Some more effective dependant on profession attributes. • Various Upgrades (usually 2 per weapon allowed)

12. Game Play Continued • Interactive NPCs • Provide Quest • Buy / Sell Items • Join you in battle • Missions / Quest • Battle to an area • Obtain an Item • Kill a boss • Defend and area under attack • Death Penalty • Each time you die you incur -15% max hp and energy. (-60% Max) • Regain by killing foes. • DP removed when you enter a town or outpost. • Additional Goals Are Titles. • Several tiers to titles. • Display titles under character.

13. Skills • Allowed to carry up to 8 skills at once. • Skill Effectiveness increase with attribute points. • 75 Skills per Profession that are unlocked through gameplay. • Skills adjustable at a town / outpost, locked otherwise. • Variety of skills allows for near limitless character builds / strategy . • Skills have energy cost, casting time, and recharge time associated with them.

14. Map of Tyria

15. Game Fun • Fun Game Play • Create multiple characters adds new dimension to the game. • Personalize Your Character • Custom Look • Guild trademark is customizable cape. • Holiday Events exist in dynamic world. • Special Quest • Special Rewards • Variety • Many choices of play lead to low repetition. • Every item / character has multiple choices. • Not Fun Game Play • Internet disconnection in middle of quest or mission. • High death penalty makes quest near impossible. • Some goal must be completed at once and take a very long time (hours). • It may be difficult to locate specific elements key to game play.

16. Special Features • Team Coordination Compass • All players in party can see. • Ping a location. • Draw paths through maze like areas. • Automatic Drop Allocation • Gold evenly dispersed throughout party. • Item drops assigned in a round robin fashion. • Holiday Events • Christmas party with unique rewards. • Enemy Targeting Feature • Call out targets allowing party members to attack targets called. • Competition Among Location • Guild Wars locations: US, Europe, Japan, Australia, etc. • Successive PvP wins = Favor of the Gods • Better Drops • Access to Elite Areas • Self Adjusting (Price) Economy  Price of items (buy and sell) adjust to supply and demand.

17. User Interface • Controls Are Easy To Use • Can access everything with keyboard • Can point click all functionality also. • Many different ways to do the same thing. • Hot keys for advanced users • Uniform Information Presentation • Consistency across all visual representations. • Descriptions shown on mouse hover. • Fully Customizable Interface • All elements / windows are sizable & movable. • Each show a different aspect of the character • Location, Quest, Attributes, Guild Members. • Layout does not interfere with game play. • View / Hide all controls as you like.

18. User Interface

19. Graphics and Sound • Graphics and Artwork • In depth 3D environment with full camera control. • Very detailed artwork with excellent color choices. • Beautiful and realistic looking terrain. • All cut-scenes include all players (characters) and are done with graphics that are the same as in the game itself. • Can become choppy with a less powerful graphics card, low memory, or slow internet connections. • Sound • Standard annoying background music. • Particular sounds to particular enemies. • Sound is part of game play as particular sounds indicate particular actions / events. • Player speech only during cut-scenes.

20. Game Advantages • Great Team Communication • Navigate on compass to all players in real time. • Different channels for communication. • Local, Guild, Team, Trade, Whisper • Balanced Game • No one strategy dominates. • All strategies have counter strategies. • Never Ending Game • If you were to ever complete everything, a new campaign is probably being released. • PvP encourages continuing game play. • Replay Value is high. • Highest tier of titles difficult to achieve and take a very long time to complete. • Everything Is Available For A Price • Online trading system gets you items. • Services available from players • Power leveling • Complete quest / missions • Get player to a location.

21. Game Disadvantages • Human Player Availability • Some Missions / Quest become much harder without human players. • Can be difficult to find specific character for a mission. • If players quit or disconnect during a quest / mission, goal becomes near impossible. • Updates • Updates are frequent (almost every time I log on). • Sometimes takes upwards of 10 minutes on broadband.. • Some updates lag the game play for a few days. • Usually have no noticeable effect. • Internet Dependence • Disconnections aren't frequent, but do occur. • No Internet = No game play. • System Requirements • Quite a large demand on computer resources. • Usually requires additional and expensive graphics cards and memory. • Any connection under broadband will limit game play.

22. Compared to Similar Games • Game depends on combination of choices (skills, attributes, etc) not, how long you have been playing. • Level cap puts all player on an even battlefield. • You can warp between towns outpost, unlike similar games where you must battle to a location. • No Subscription Fees!!! • Shared Storage lets you transfer items / gold from one character to another. • No Cheat Codes, enough said!

23. Evaluation • Design Mistakes • Designed as if it corrects all mistakes of previous games in similar genre. • However, no indication of completed quest. • Scoring System for PvE has little impact on game play and does not necessarily reflect anything about a player. • Audience • Majority are 18 – 40. • User Agreement says under 13 is not allowed. • Surprisingly large female population. • Aimed for frequent gamer. • Bugs • Some locations allow you to walk inside a wall. • Frequent updates correct before most notice.

24. Evaluation • Improvement • The tutorial in the beginning of the game. • Disconnection recovery. • Offline Accessibility • Practice Areas • Training Areas • Purchase • Yes: If you’re a serious gamer looking for a long term commitment game. • No: If your just looking for a once in a while game.

25. Demo • On to the Demo • Followed by questions and comments???