Persistence and Instancing in Guild Wars 2

Based on what we know so far, Guild Wars 2 will change the way world persistence and instancing works. In Guild Wars, each town and outpost featured districts, with several per geographic location. So, for example, in Kamadan, there would be an English District 1, English District 2, and so on.

Other MMOs have a different take. EVE has a single, shared universe, which all players share all the time. World of Warcraft has 'worlds' - dedicated groups of servers shared between all players in that world, with characters unable to move between worlds.

In Guild Wars, players shared an instance within a district. All the players in English District 1 could see each other, interact, etc. When your party left a town or outpost, Guild Wars would create a new game instance - that just contained your party. You would only ever see and meet NPCs.

The only exceptions to this were a couple of missions in Guild Wars Factions, where a second party starting the mission would randomly be put in your instance. These missions were special, however, in that they required two parties (16 people) to complete. If no second party could be found, a party of henchmen would be created and would join you.

Guild Wars 2 changes things slightly. Firstly, multiple worlds or servers will exist, as in World of Warcraft. However, players will be able to freely move between worlds, in the same way you can easily change districts within a town or outpost in Guild Wars.

Instances will still be used for quests and dungeons. However, there will be persistent areas introduced, which will allow exploring players to meet and interact, in the same way current Guild Wars players can meet and interact in towns and outposts.

The changes to persistence and instancing in Guild Wars 2 seem to be an evolution rather than an evolution. ArenaNet seem to be expanding the possibilities slightly, but still allowing that segregation between players wanting to enjoy the PvE storyline and experience, versus those players looking for the PvP battles.

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What can we expect from Guild Wars 2?

With the Guild Wars 2 beta due to start soon, with the game being released in the first half of 2008, what can we expect? With over 4 million copies sold to date in the Eye of the North series, the sequel to the first three chapters has a lot to live up to.

Guild Wars 2 will continue the tradition started in Guild Wars of having no monthly fees. This has been a huge success for ArenaNet and NCSoft, encourage the more casual or time-strapped gamer to give MMOs a try.

Your existing characters from Guild Wars will not be transferrable to Guild Wars 2. However, through the use of the Hall of Monuments in the Eye of the North, you will be able to carry across Titles. It is possible that all items in the Hall of Monuments will eventually be able to be carried across into Guild Wars 2.

You can find out more information on xbox Eye of the North at the xbox360.

The number of playable races will also be increased. Playable races will include not only humans, but Charr, Asura, Norn, and a new race called Sylvari. All will have their own pros and cons. All characters will be able to have a companion, who will not take up a party slot, but will be customisable like heroes.

The level cap will be increased past Level 20, with a possibility of no upper cap. Over a certain level the bonuses received from each extra level will decrease. The total number of skills and their complexity will be decreased, with skills having modified effects based on what your character is doing (running, jumping, climbing, etc.)

Guild Wars 2 will take place roughly 250 years after the events of Eye of the North. The face of Tyria has changed, with the ancient dragons rising again to spread darkness and corruption across the land. The PvE campaign will still have a strong story, but will be composed of smaller, shorter story arcs - much like the umbrella Primary Quests in Eye of the North.

PvP will undergo a major makeover, with two different types of PvP available in Guild Wars 2. World PvP allows you to take your existing character, with their current level, skillset, weapons and armour, and jump into large scale PvP battles. These will be focussed around particular goals - for example storming a castle, or defending watch towers. Larger battles will take place over extended periods of time, with players free to come and go.

Structured PvP will be similar to the existing Guild vs. Guild PvP. Your character will enter these battles at maximum level with everything unlocked, making Structured PvP much more focussed on team work and tactics.

These first details of Guild Wars 2 show a lot of promise. Clearly ArenaNet are building on the success of Guild Wars, introducing new areas of play style and content based on the extensive player feedback Guild Wars has received so far.

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