When it comes to design, GW2, had me sold from the start. It is a beautiful looking MMO, and when I’m not being swarmed by the blanket of creatures that seem to attack me at every turn, I find myself very much enjoying the environment.
However, the lack of weather is really taking away from that experience for me. Scripted weather breaks my immersion almost instantly. Combine that with the carbon copy placement of animals, and the whole world feels designed. It doesn’t feel natural, or alive.
Imagine for a moment getting caught in a snow storm, where everyone in your party is forced to move slowly to avoid falling off cliffs, the shapes of wolves pass by you as you struggle to find the next waypoint. Imagine the sounds of thunder building in the distance as the sky darkens. The patter of raindrops start to fill your ears and before long you find yourself in the middle of a storm. Your ranged weapons aren’t as effective, so you must resort to close combat.
For me, it’s these little things that turn a cool game, into an amazing game. Seasons changing, realistic weather, and a day / night cycle that actually feels real, would be a great addition to this game.
Speaking of the day/night cycle, for me GW2 is one of the worst I’ve ever seen in a game. I often can’t tell if it’s day, or night unless the game boots me to overflow with a different time of day. There are no long shadowed sunsets, no red glow of the sunrise.
Night means nothing to the world. He creatures don’t sleep, the bunnies don’t hide from the nasty creatures or ghosts that only roam at night. Is game needs to take a chance, and make night, actually like night.
Imagine how amazing it would look to stand on the top of a mountain, watching oer players, torch in hand, navigating the terrain. Imagine how insanely awesome it would be to come upon a cave troll sleeping, your torchlight bouncing off his face as his eyes open.
Imagine the feeling you would get knowing that the deer that we’re casually grazing are now gone, and the lumbering steps of some unknown creature echo in the dark. Your party, torches in hand cautiously walk towards the sound. A bunny scurries from the light and gets blasted by your trigger happy quest mate.
If GW2 truly wanted to change the MMO experience, they don’t have to do much in my opinion. Use what is available. Take the chance and allow players to experience a whole range of emotions as they navigate the environment. You don’t have to plaster the world with creatures to make it seem alive.
