We all have things we love about Guild Wars 2, places that make us cheer out and say “yes, this is my ultra-mega place!” We all have classes, abilities, and features we’re passionate about, either negatively or positively. This is a place to share all that. Once a week I’ll be raising a Guild Wars 2 question to the community– hopefully an interesting one– and we’ll share our opinions. I’ll start off with my opinion just to get the ball rolling, but these questions will not have any right or wrong answers, so feel free to argue with me to your heart’s content!
Ouch. So, despite ArenaNet’s best intentions, The Lost Shores didn’t go exactly as planned for most folks as far as the one-time world event was concerned. It’s a shame what happened, but it’s also reassuring to know that the development team plans on making some much-needed improvements to the way the game handles events like these. I also found it reassuring to know that ArenaNet really wanted our feedback on one-time events in general. Why? Personally, I tend to think that in today’s MMO world, there are simply better options.
World events are awesome, and can be some of an MMO’s best content when done right. There’s a number of fine lines to balance when making world events, however. You can’t make events too difficult or too limiting as far as who gets to participate, but you can’t make them too ridiculously easy, either. They have to feature unique goodies, surprises, and some type of story, yet they can’t take too much time out of everyday development. Events can’t be too long, but they also can’t be too short. They have to encourage players to want to sign on, but they shouldn’t be frustrating in any way, shape, or form.
If a player experiences a major bug or severe server lag during an event, they quickly become frustrated. If the event is a longer event, and the development team has time to fix said bugs, some of that frustration is relieved. If that same player has plenty of time to complete the event, they’re also more likely to do something else or log off for a while until the lag clears. If, however, they know they must complete a certain phase within three hours, the frustration’s likely to escalate.
Along that same note, if they know a special, one-time surprise is going to happen at a particular time when they need to be asleep for the next work/school day, there’s a high chance that they’ll feel at least a tiny bit frustrated, or maybe even disappointed. Events in MMOs should be fun. They’re like a vacation in a world where adventure never quite stops, and offer players a chance for a unique adventure.
One-time events naturally have a higher chance of being frustrating, simply because all these things have a greater chance of affecting players. Personally, as much as the “epicness” and cool factor of one-time events do intrigue me, I know that in the real world, I much prefer to be able to choose when to game based on my schedule. I like being able to hop on at midnight and check out a new event without feeling like I missed out on something amazing. I need to be able to complete an event’s phases on my own time.
ArenaNet needs to find a better alternative to one-time events in my opinion. What do you think about one-time world events in an MMO? Are they more immersive, or simply not worth the frustration? Sound off in the comments section below!
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