Looking Ahead To Factions
Edited and Published by Magi
In less than a month every single Guild Wars fan, including those who will experience it for the first time, will rejoice in a united voice when Factions content is unleashed. When the first preview event came - on that was focused entirely on Player versus Player (PvP) - excitement exploded in-game and on every fan site imaginable. Though that was only PvP content for the upcoming stand alone expansion. On March 24, 2006, the community anticipates to see more content, including the new Player versus Environment (PvE) content.
While the events on March 24, 2006 will certainly be unforgettable, I do not wish to devote this editorial solely to it. I want to instead focus on what the upcoming expansion will provide to not only the game, but the players of Guild Wars. Some expansions for competing online games - Star Wars Galaxies comes to mind - while it adds to the world, isn't necessarily what the players want. This is not the case with Factions. Everything that is going to be added is truly what the players want and is going to improve their every day gameplay experiences as a result.
Before I get into that, however, I wish to share a conversation I had with a friend of mine a few weeks before the announcement of Factions. We were talking about Guild Wars obviously, and the different aspects of it that truly makes it stand out above competing online titles. The two major points that were discussed are the very involving story-based PvE content and of course the overly complex and strategic heavy PvP systems. While these were of course sufficient he told me "this game needs an expansion." It out came out of thin air, left field even for the baseball fans out there. Despite that, it doesn't make the statement any less true. Like it or not, Guild Wars needed an expansion.
When ArenaNet first announced Guild Wars and the general concept behind it - the lack of a subscription primarily - a lot of observers raised an eyebrow, myself included, and for good reason. At the time I was covering EverQuest II and Star Wars Galaxies exclusively, having been deeply involved in the MMORPG media for a few years already. Every single massively online title that had been launched had a subscription coupled to it, with a few exceptions, namely Runescape. Though the point is, the concept of a subscription service was drilled into our heads so much that a game which proposed the opposite was quite striking. The main question that was raised is "how then can content be constantly updated and added to?" While it is a very good question, it is one that never has been a concern for this title.
It was never a concern for two reasons. The first is what I would like to call the "PvP reliant nature of Guild Wars." This is not a scorn at PvE either, or a suggestion that [PvE] content is severely lacking. What this concept is suggesting is that the game, and its community, can rely on the PvP systems to produce an ever lasting enjoyable experience. Some would argue that this is because PvP can vary so much, not knowing who your opponent is. Sadly, with PvE, no matter when you complete a dungeon, who you are with, it will stay the same. So in that respect, the lack of constantly updating content was never an issue.
The other reason is the business model that Guild Wars is based: instead of charging a monthly fee for the title, release expansions more aggressively. This is exactly what we are seeing in Factions and from all accounts it is going to deliver. In fact, some may argue that we will be getting more content then if the standard MMORPG subscription model is used. That my friends, is the best news of all.
I have spent too long on talking about the industry and business model for Guild Wars, what you, my readers, are interested in is details of Factions! While nothing that I will say is new - and if it is you should visit our Factions Info Page for more details - what may be new is ideas for possible applications of upcoming features. For instance it is nice to talk about co-operative missions, enhancements to guild halls and even territory control but if we don't know how these things could possibly work and how they effect us, they're nothing more than optimistic ideals.
Co-operative Missions, Guild Alliances
The new co-operative style of play - be it for general purposes, PvP or missions - are perhaps one of the most exciting new features that Factions will offer to the existing player base. When I look at the combing of guilds or groups into larger ones the first thing that comes to mind is "it's about time." That is not to say however that I am suggesting this will mean the dreaded raid group mentality of other games - far from it. That system is incredibly flawed and needs some serious re-evaluation. Perhaps Guild Wars will present the solution, who knows?
As far as PvP is concerned, one of the things that the game takes considerable pride in is the amount of strategy involved. In my mind the primary way this has been accomplished is the smaller numbers. In a very popular PvP-based game called World of Warcraft, the 40 vs 40 battles may be fun but can often lack real strategy. In Guild Wars this is not the case at all, and I suppose the question is: will a total of 16 combatants per side off-shoot this wonderful balance that has been achieved? Not at all.
PvP strategy at a very basic level has two extremes as far as online games are concerned. On the one hand, there is Guild Wars with a low body count and considerable strategy is involved. Alternatively, World of Warcraft offers a very large body count and as that number increases, strategy goes the way of the Dodo. What I firmly believe ArenaNet is aiming for is to establish a balance and perhaps the 16 vs 16 setup will achieve that. They do want to keep strategy but they also want to maintain a more epic feel. Whether they are successful or not we should see come the preview event and those who are lucky enough to have a spot in the beta.
Where PvP is overly complex, the PvE implications are much easier to deal with. For one thing, balance or strategy is not as strong of a factor. Realistically this is because you can simply add more "mobs" or more challenging ones and your fears are out the door. That said, in the missions where co-operative guilds can participate in, we will see the same effect to that of PvP: a more epic, and hence enjoyable feeling.
If I were to sum up what we are going to have in the new co-operative systems in Guild Wars in a few words I would say this: a raid without the size. While no one wants to see the 40 man raids that we see in other online games - World of Warcraft, EverQuest II - we certainly want the feeling of such raids emulated. At the bare minimum, these changes will accomplish that; something every Guild Wars player will be more then pleased at.
Territory Control
When one looks at Factions and what it offers many things could come to your head. The fact that more PvE content is made available could be one. Guild Hall enhancements could be another, a whole sort of arguments could be used. Put aside all of that, the one new system that could have the most impact on the world and its players is Territory Control. That is exactly what I plan to explore next.
While details on this very exciting feature are few and far between, we do have a general concept of what it will entail. Essentially it will involve guilds actively participating in both defending and attacking territories for a particular faction. The success, or failure, of such actions will also have serious consequences or benefits to the faction that controls, or fails to control them. While this is very nice to think and fantasize about, how will this really work?
To answer this question all one needs to do is look towards Lineage 2. A very similar system is set up in that respect, but instead of capturing and defending territories, castles are utilized instead. Though what needs to be said is that once you control a castle, you do [control] that region. Interestingly enough the benefits seem to be the same as what ArenaNet is telling us thus far. By far though, the most difficult question about this kind of system is how are territories, castles or regions defended or attacked? The way Lineage 2 has it set up is that you can only attack another castle at a very specific time; usually on the weekend and during prime time. While this system works effectively, there isn't any action during the week which can be disparaging.
With that said, I don't think we'll see ArenaNet utilize the system that occupies Lineage 2. So then what will they use? The simple answer is "I don't know." What I can say is what they need to avoid, and that is primarily "under handed tactics." By that I mean attacking deliberately when few, if any faction members are on to control territory. Perhaps to avoid this ArenaNet will only allow for territories to be attacked if a certain number of faction members are on? Who knows. The bottom line is, an appropriate attack and defense system needs to be in place for this kind of system to succeed.
What I would like to add as well, to almost contrast the previous paragraph, because it seems that factions and not guilds will control territories, perhaps any fear of losing for whatever under handed reason is foolish? That is to say, due to the fact that there will only be a small number of factions to choose from there will always be someone on from each faction. That could suggest the the Territory Control system would utilize the idea of "constant battles." That is to say, the battles for territory never stop; players are always fighting for control over it. While that is a nice idea it could have some serious consequences, namely erasing the accomplishments particular players made before they logged off (this is assuming that the ones who were around after log off were sub-par, comparatively speaking).
Who knows how it will end up working out. All I know is, I'll be very interested in seeing how ArenaNet pulls it off at the days end.
What Else?
The major systems of PvE and PvP have been explored quite thoroughly but of course there are other items coming in the expansion as well. Who could forget the two new dynamic professions that are the Assassin and Ritualist? Oh, and there are also Guild Hall enhancements coming! New weapons, armor and items are on the way too! I could go on and on with the new features and it truly is amazing. It's almost like buying a whole new game - and since it is a stand alone expansion, it will certainly be that way for some people.
Guild Wars may have its faults, it is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. Though when it comes to addressing the concerns of the player base ArenaNet knows what its doing. They recognize that they need to expand the PvE content and they will considerably. They understand that their PvPers (and there are many) want new and more exciting ways to participate in the killing of other players. So we have the new Battle Isles and more importantly, Territory Control. Then there is even a request for more variety among players, so two new professions are being added. Not to mention as well we will be getting tons of new weapons and armor!
So what's the difference between a non subscription expansion and a premium one? Well, I think the expected features of Factions speaks for itself. What is going to be provided is exactly what the players want to allow for growth. It is not simply an "addition to the world" but "necessary for the world to continue." We certainly are seeing that with Factions and I for one cannot wait until March 24, 2006.
