Content: GW2 vs. TSW

I’ve decided to write a comparison piece to highlight the similarities and differences between Guild Wars 2 and The Secret World‘s content — specifically the leveling/questing content.  Why?  I’ve played both games and realized that they share core similarities on the macro level, but when you look closer the two are entirely different.

Both TSW and GW2 are also very different from the all-too-common WoW-clone content model.  These two games have done a great job creating something unique.   If you’re interested in finding out more about the content in these two games, specifically my take on them, read on.

Similarities

Both GW2 and TSW are linear themeparks.  The goal is to move from this zone, to that zone, then eventually the zone over there.  A clear start and end point are visible.  Yet within that linear design, both games take a very open approach to how the questing and content within each zone are structured.  Players are free to roam from around the zone and explore.  “Quests” are sprinkled around with the hope that players will come across them and think, “Oh wow a quest in an area I just explored! How unexpected and fortuitous!”

GW2 quests are located at the hearts on the map where a NPC is likely there waiting to give you a reward for doing something “natural” in the area.  Why they chose hearts, I do not know.   TSW’s proper quests are found from NPC’s located in areas you would expect to find people hiding out: A general store, a haunted school, a kindergarten…you get the idea.   While both games let you go to whatever area you want, there is still a natural and intended path of progression from an easier side of the zone to an area with monsters you’re going to struggle against.

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No Queue, No Overflow, No Play

Guild Wars 2's BWE2 is underway, but one issue in particular has hindered enjoyment for many.  Servers that are deemed too "full" are locked -- blocking people from choosing that…

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GW2 Updates, Mini-dungeon isn’t Darkness Falls

Mike Ferguson updated the ArenaNet blog to explain how the Guild Wars 2 team has been working to improve the World vs. World (PvP) experience for the upcoming Beta Weekend Event #2 (tomorrow!).  Included are some fixes to issues I had with WvW like arrow towers needing shorter range, and longer cooldowns. The fixes to the chat system are also great in that they make a chat system work like one should.  Better chat channel functionality, chat bubbles, and UI improvements were posted two days ago as well.  I’m anxious to try out the changes to “a sense of hitting” — I thought the GW2 combat felt rather good compared to most games — to see what’s new.

While those little changes are good, and a real necessity, I’m mostly interested in performance improvements.  I have a system that falls somewhere in the ‘average’ range for bleeding edge gaming, and WvW is unpleasant when attacking or defending keeps because of frame rate issues.

I read on Reddit that the new dungeon is purely a “PvP dungeon” with no monsters.  I was thinking it was more like Darkness Falls, and I was totally wrong in that assumption.  The Mini-dungeon/Dark Room sounds more like an underground area to fight with a treasure chest acting as bait to get people down there skirmishing.  I was hoping for more.  That’s disappointing, but I’ll reserve judgment until I try it this weekend.

Last test, which was actually only a Monday stress test, I found a new love in the Elementalist.  Since I was so shocked by a class that I originally wrote off as ‘another mage’, I’ve decided to expand my horizons even further this time by playing the Ranger.  If you’d like to join me, and others from our forums, we’ll be on Ehmry Bay — a server that did alright for itself last beta weekend according to the BWE1 World Standings.

NA World Wins Losses
Sea of Sorrows 6 0
Maguuma 5 1
Ehmry Bay 5 1
Darkhaven 5 1

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