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Wrote this article for Relics of Orr. Figured you all would appreciate it, and I'm curious to see what you think.
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Game — Easy to play? What are you, some kind of ‘casual‘ or something?
That might be what you’re asking upon reading the topic title.
Well let me tell you youngsters something. I’m as hardcore as it gets; I’ve been gaming since ’89. I had the Sega Channel before “streamed content” was a buzz word. I’m the kid on the block who beat Super Mario RPG in one sitting. I was running around with Minsc in the first Baldurs Gate before you even heard the term ‘Isometric PC RPG’, on a ghetto Gateway no less. To keep with the theme of the site, I was battling hardcore Korean guilds in GvG before you even met Gwen in Pre-Searing. Respect your elders.
Ok, the old man rant is over (hope you had fun). So let me explain what I mean by “make your game easy to play“. These past few days I’ve been completely wrapped up in a turn based strategy game called Civilization V. 20 hours wrapped up. Considering I work 8 hours a day, this tells you how much of my free time has gone to conquering the world with India, as Ghandi. The game has been renowned through the years for being a robust, complex, and difficult society simulator.
The same complexity, and strategy is still there in Civilization V. However, Firaxis really took the time to sharpen things up. Menus are easier to navigate, resources and diplomacy are easier to track. Keeping tabs on units is a much more rewarding, and less cumbersome task. Instead of allowing units to stack in a single panel, now only one unit can be used per panel. Here, Firaxis was able to simplify things while also adding depth and strategy.Instead of tracking happiness across individual cities, the entire empire has a happiness index.
Diplomacy in Civ IV - What the hell are all these lines for?
Everything Firaxis has updated in Civ V has made the game easier to play, while at the same time being as frustratingly difficult as it has always been. In my experience so far, they’ve done what few series have been able to do. Keeping it simple while remaining deep.
What does any of this have to do with Guild Wars?
Ok, Arenanet. Although Civ V might be in a completely different genre, many lessons can be learned here. First, making a game easier to play doesn’t necessarily mean “less difficult“, nor does it require you to lose strategy. It just means adding a layer of intuitiveness, and providing better presentation which can be a huge boon. Especially for those who are going to be new to the game.
I have faith in you Arenanet, just as I did in Firaxis. Everything you’ve shown so far looks like you’re going in the right direction. I like that skills are mapped to weapons, so swapping skills will be as easy as changing equipment. However, the depth of strategy remains as players have to decide what equipment is required for a certain situation. Where before you had to be in a city, and go through a massive list of skills to equip before battle. Keep rolling with these kinds of ideas.
I’m not sure if anyone from the A-Net is reading this, but I think taking lessons from another company can never hurt. Especially if it’s in a different genre.
Ok, time for me to return to my world. Trying to drop a nuke down on the United States. Don’t f&*$ with Ghandi.
http://www.relicsoforr.com/?p=636
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