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http://pc.ign.com a dit:Guild Wars Multiplayer Weekend Interview.
We chat with ArenaNet about the changes and what players can expect.
by Dan Adams
August 23, 2005 - With the multiplayer event coming up so quickly this Friday, ArenaNet was good to take the time to answer some quick questions about the update and what people can expect both from it and the future of Guild Wars. ArenaNet's Skill Balance Game Designer Isaiah Cartwright provides the answers to the future of skills in one of the most popular RPGs on the PC.
IGNPC: What do you do at ArenaNet?
Isaiah Cartwright: I am the game designer in charge of skills. It's my job to not only help design skills, but to ensure that they are unique, well-balanced, and appealing. I also help design new professions and assist with item balance, and I pretty much dabble in anything that has the word "PvP" in it.
IGNPC: Now that the game is out and a big success, have you taken any time to relax or is it a constant drive to get new content and fixes up, as well as plan for the second chapter?
Isaiah Cartwright: Relax? What's that? On a serious note, watching skills at work in their natural environment is extremely important. You can't really tell how powerful or effective a skill is until you see it in action with other skills. We constantly analyze current trends, listen to tester and player feedback, and review skills to determine if there are tweaks or changes that should be made. Making even a minor change to one skill can change how a number of other skills feel, so it's really a tricky process. Right now, we're focused on Chapter 2, but we've all been watching Chapter 1 closely, as well, to see what we can do to improve it, and to make sure that it has a great flow into Chapter 2.
IGNPC: Are the upcoming changes being made specifically for PvP play? If so, will they have any effect on the single-player experience?
Isaiah Cartwright: Most of these changes where based on feedback from PvP play, although I think most of the changes will affect cooperative play as well. Whenever we change skills, it really affects the entire game.
IGNPC: Are any more awards being granted for faction points with this update? Will players have new skills or weapons to look forward to?
Isaiah Cartwright: There are no new skills or weapons coming with this update, it's purely a large boost to faction, and tweaks to the existing skills.
IGNPC: What kind of challenges do you face when balancing the skills in guild wars?
Isaiah Cartwright: The Guild Wars skill system makes extensive use of combinations; between the basic 6 professions and the ability to multi-class, you end up with 30 different class combinations. With 450+ skills, that leaves room for an extremely large number of possible combinations, so we are always keeping an eye out for combinations that are just too powerful, and then we tweak them until they are more balanced.
IGNPC: What are your views on unlock acquisition rate?
Isaiah Cartwright: Balancing the rate of unlock acquisition is something we are always debating. I am a strong believer in faster unlock acquisition, as I feel the game really opens up when you've unlocked everything. The upcoming PvP Extreme event (PvPX) will enable us to study the effects of our changes to that area of the game and help us make the right decisions for future updates.
IGNPC: How did you decide what skills to change in your upcoming update?
Isaiah Cartwright: We studied in-game trends a lot, and we have a very active group of testers who provide us with invaluable feedback on how the skills are working, or not working, as the case might be. I myself spend countless hours in-game and on the forums debating skill functionality and proposed changes (along with everything else in our game).
IGNPC: How do you see skills improving in future chapters of Guild wars?
Isaiah Cartwright: I'm glad you asked that. I see the first set of skills as just scratching the surface of what Guild Wars will eventually contain. Down the road when we have a few chapters under our belt, I expect to see thousands of skills in the game. The way I see it, the more skills and combinations we create, the more fun and interesting the Guild Wars skill system becomes.
IGNPC: What have you learned from chapter 1 that you are taking in account for Chapter 2?
Isaiah Cartwright: I've learned a lot about what makes skills interesting—what makes them work really well, and how to make them work well together. In creating skills for Chapter 2, we're definitely taking into account the Chapter 1 skills to ensure that those in Chapter 2 combine with them effectively.
IGNPC: How much time have you played Guild Wars
Isaiah Cartwright: A lot! I've logged 550 hours and 26 minutes on my main account and 205 hours and 15 minutes on my second account. That's an unbeaten record at ArenaNet.
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