Game Developers Conference

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the East Coast Game Developers Conference (ECGC) in Raleigh NC for the second year running. I'm very lucky to be going to school in Raleigh, less than 10 minutes from the convention center downtown. The event went off without a hitch, and there were a lot of great speakers. Jason Rice in particular gave a very interesting talk on designing and balancing for competitive multiplayer games. The challenge of balancing asymmetrical situations in competitive games, whether it's different characters, classes, weapons, maps, races, units, or anything else (pokemon?), is what really draws me to game design, so his seminar spoke to my particular interests in a very immediate way. All in all the conference was a fun and informative experience. Can't wait for next year.

Pet control

WoW did a lot of things right, but I don't think the interface for controlling pets was one of them. I'm a little disappointed to see GW2 adopting a similar system for ranger pets (3 toggled pet 'modes' and 3 active movement commands).

Six different buttons to move a pet around is a pretty clunky system, and many of the options are redundant. For someone who wants to have everything keybound it can be really annoying when all those pet keys are competing with your other skills for prime keybind locations.

On top of that, moving a pet around (or just setting it to the correct mode and forgetting about it), is the entirety of the ranger's unique mechanic, which seems far too passive compared to the other profession mechanics. More importantly it doesn't seem like it would be very fun or rewarding for the player.

Basic pet control commands should be streamlined to allow as much control in as few buttons as possible, and pets should have at least one activated ability specific to that pet or pet type.

For basic pet commands what I'd like to see is two buttons. One button orders your pet to attack your target. Double clicking sets your pet to automatically attack whatever are attacking. The second button brings up a green targeting circle that allows you to click on the ground to tell your pet to move your pet to that spot and stay there. Double clicking the second button will tell your pet to stop attacking and return to your side.

For activated pet abilities I'd like to exclusively see skills that incorporate the position of the pet somehow, otherwise they just feel like extra ranger skills. For instance, skills that affect the area around the pet, or a skill that allows you to leap to your pet or swap places with it. A skill that lets you click and drag to determine a direction for your pet to charge would be particularly cool.

Ultimately you have more control over your pet (GW2 currently has no move-to-target-location command or activated pet skills) with half as many buttons, and having an activated skill will make the ranger mechanic more fun. Plus each pet type will feel more distinct, and choosing a pet will be a more rewarding decision.

Runner up in GW2 'design a skill' contest

Guess I should mention this here. I was a runner up in the GuildFans 'design a skill' contest a while back, judged by Jon Peters and Isaiah Cartwright. It was awesome to see what veteran game designers had to say about my entry. Big thanks to them.


Contest results and ArenaNet Commentary:
http://www.guildfans.com/story.html?story=24371

My entry:
http://www.guildfans.com/forum.html?forum=223&mid=1289995400257523723&page=3&howmany=50#msg129011778917318337

Structured 5v5: Metagaming and "The Sideboard"

The metagame in WoW is terrible. I assume GW1 is similar, but less restrictive and punishing because you don't have to level each new PvP characters from scratch.

The problem with WoW (and GW1?), especially in a ladder, is that the metagame decisions are made entirely before you are given any information on your opponent, and in the case of the ladder, before you even know who your opponent is. Your team makeup, specs, and gear, are all preset before you enter matchmaking and find an opponent.

That kind of metagame has lacks depth because it's a complete guessing game. there's no reactionary element. All the decisions happen before the game, and are not incorporated into the game itself.

Here's a general example of a good metagame: the SC2 metagame revolves around popular builds, but your build isn't set in stone when you start the game, you always have the option to react and adapt. You can scout and find out what your opponent is doing instead of taking a shot in the dark and hoping your build counters theirs.

To provide an example that's more relevant to guild wars 2: DotA/HoN. Heroes are constantly shifting in popularity and perceived power, and there is a definite metagame surrounding hero picks and lineups. However, the banning and drafting system of picking heroes means that metagame decisions are incorporated into the game and given an element of strategy. The bans and picks are an important part of each DotA game, they are not technically a pre-game decision. The two teams are already in competition when banning and selecting heroes begins.

I'd like to see something similar done with builds in competitive GW2. Bring some of the metagame decision making into the game itself, and give it a reactionary element. Someone else mentioned the idea of the MTG sideboard in another thread, and i think the concept is something that could be a perfect fit for GW2.

I want to see some kind of pre-battle screen where your team is given some information about the line-up and possibly traits of the opponents, and given a chance to make adjustments and react. There are a ton of different ways you could go about it, arenanet just has to find the one that works for their game.

Here's kind of how I imagine it working, to provide a starting point:

Your team selects their professions, 2 weapon sets, and traits before a match, but each player also has the option of selecting a sideboard that includes a limited number of alternate weapons and traits. When you join a match you have a UI that displays your opponents team, player names, and professions, and you are given a limited amount of time to swap a certain number of traits (and weapon sets) from your sideboard to be used in the next match. Games are bo3 and teams can make adjustments from their sideboard between matches.

This lets you do things like sub in extra condition removal against a team that's stacking necros. Or if you're stacking necros maybe you'll use non-condition based builds and mindgame the other team into using bad builds, and then switch it up in round 2.

The designers can increase or decrease how much freedom players have in making adjustments, and how much information is revealed about the opposing team as they see fit. They could even do it dota-style, where each team alternates picking their professions and traits.

Anyway, the important thing is that they do something to bring a reactionary, strategical element to the metagame, and make it less of a pure guessing game.

Class differentiation in GW2

When it comes to class design the devs of Guild Wars have said that they want to move away from a strict holy trinity system, where the role of a class is often rigidly and narrowly defined. This post is taken from a discussion about the supposed BML (Blue Mace Lady - speculation based on a piece of concept art) profession, and what role that class might fill in terms of gameplay. The concept art and other bits of information suggest that the BML will be some sort of heavily armored defender capable of using magic. Something close to a Paladin. My post was in response to someone who claimed that classes in GW2 no longer have a "specific focus" when it comes to gameplay. Here's my take on that idea:

Even if classes are capable of doing a lot of things, I hope they still have one advantage that's unique to the class, or at least one area where they excel. It shouldn't be as simple as saying BML's heal and warriors do damage, but every class should kind of have a sliding scale of various things that they focus on. For example:

Warrior: melee damage > melee control > maneuverability > party buffs > survivability > ranged physical damage

BML: party protection > survivability > healing > melee damage > ranged magic damage > melee control

Now, each individual player would be able to modify this scale with weapon choice, utilities, traits etc., to the point where any one of those roles could be their area of expertise, but the chart shows where your class is the most versatile. You might be able to build 9 different viable variations on a melee damage warrior, but there's only 1 viable way to play a ranged damage warrior; or there are a lot of ways to play a prot BML, but if you want to play a melee control BML your options are narrowed down significantly.

That's kind of how I see GW2's system playing out. So to say BML is a defensive/support focused character doesn't mean that's the only thing it's capable of, it means that the player who knows they want to play a defensive/support role will find the most flexibility and freedom determining the specifics of how they carry out that role if they pick a BML. On the other hand, the player who picks a BML because they like the way it looks, or they just want to be a holy warrior or whatever, will still have the option to play whatever role he wants without feeling gimped.

If classes don't have any strengths or weaknesses, or specialties of any kind, then it kind of defeats the point of a class system as far as i'm concerned.

Dodge roll? Parkour?

Several years ago I was fantasizing about what an MMO I designed would be like, and one of the big ideas I had was that every class would be given an ability that they could use to dodge out of the way of projectiles, and another ability that would allow players to parry melee attacks similar to the way parrying works in fighting games. Both would require precision timing and be limited by a cooldown or energy system to prevent spamming. This was something I was thinking about long before I knew anything about GW2, but I'm thrilled to see someone had the same idea and is making it a reality. The dodge roll system in GW2 is something I absolutely love.

What I'd like to see down the line, in addition to the parry idea, is the idea of parkour-ish (aka free running) abilities to make vertical movement and environments more dynamic and varied. It may be a bit ambitious for now, but it's something I'd like to see in the future. Each class could accomplish the same effect in different ways; an assassin might scurry up a wall, a necro might turn into a shadow and slide up, and a mage might blink etc. then make it a limited resource, similar to dodge rolling in GW2.

I see this feature being particularly well suited to a post-apocalyptic/near future MMO. A ruined city-scape with a lots of blasted out buildings of various levels could make for some really interesting engagements. I can just see a mage-ish class kiting an assassin-ish class, but instead of simply running away on flat ground he's now often running up or down as well: The mage runs up a stair case, turning to blast the assassin on his heels as he gets to the top. He blinks up to a ledge that constitutes what remains of the ruined 3rd floor of the building. The assassin adeptly runs up the wall, grabs onto the ledge and pulls himself up as the mage continues to flee. The mage blinks across the alleyway separating two nearby buildings, and the assassin makes a flying leap over the dizzying gap in hot pursuit. The mage uses an ability that allows him to safely fall several stories (ex. slow fall) while the assassin jumps and times a roll as he hits the ground to avoid taking damage. etc etc.

Cross profession ability combos.

GW2 skills from different professions that will combo with each other, granting one or both skills additional effects when used in combination. The biggest example we've seen is Elementalists or Rangers can plant fire on the ground, which will then give friendly arrows that pass through the flames additional fire damage. Here are some of my own ideas for spell 'combos', using the known list of GW2 skills.

• Combo name: Flock's Feast
• Component A: Hunter's Call (Ranger)
• Component B: Deathly Swarm (Necromancer)
• Effect: When a Necromancer casts Deathly Swarm on a target afflicted by Hunter's Call the birds will follow the insects to a secondary target as they bounce, refreshing the duration timer on Hunter's Call.

• Combo name: Magnetize
• Component A: Lightning Bolt (Elementalist)
• Component B: Spread Shot/Splitblade (Ranger)
• Effect: After being hit by Lightning Bolt a target will become magnetized for a short time. A ranger that casts Spread Shot or Splitblade in a direction that would hit a magnetized target will find that the projectiles arch towards the magnetized target, hitting it with each projectile, doing max damage to a single target, and then continuing to fly in their spread pattern away from the ranger, with their point of origin at the magnetized target, hitting anything standing behind it.

• Combo name: Lightning Rod
• Component A: Devastating Hammer/Stomp (Warrior)
• Component B: Lightning Bolt (Elementalist)
• Effect: Devastating Hammer and Stomp launch a target into the air. While the target is in the air Lightning Bolt is guaranteed to crit (and have a bigger meaner animation).

• Combo name: Sandstorm
• Component A: Dust Trap (Ranger)
• Component B: Tornado (Elementalist)
• Effect: An Elementalist in Tornado form that passes over a friendly Dust Trap will change color to be more yellow/brown, and now blinds in addition to knocking enemies back.

• Combo name: Blood Frenzy
• Component A: Blood Fiend (Necromancer)
• Component B: Any bleed effect
• Effect: The more bleeds stacked on a target, the faster the Blood Fiend will attack that target.