Hey you, come join the squad I'm
leading, but while you follow my instructions, STFU. ArenaNet just
posted a blog about their Squad system in Guild Wars 2. Jordan
Massey is a gameplay programmer who is working directly with the WvW
system and he shed some light on what Squads are and how they'll
benefit teams. While most of it was in consideration of the WvW, it
also applies for groups who want to take on big PvE content, such as
world bosses.
Click the link to view the article by Jordan Massey
Click the link to view the article by Jordan Massey
The article is worth reading, but to
sum it up, squads can be made up of many people, and have 1 person
leading. People can join on the fly, however, squad commanders are
the only ones able to speak in the chat designated for that
particular squad. So leave behind the banter & interruptions
when it's time to focus on the task at hand. Still, it seems a
little odd for a game that's so focused on being social.
Personally, I like this a lot. While I
value what my friends and guildies have to say, you're likely to have
all kinds of people outside your circle who will be joining the
fight. There's nothing worse than people arguing or spouting off
obscenities while the rest of the group is trying to focus. And it's
not like you won't have communication with the people you'd actually
like feedback from. Just share it in guild chat, private tells,
vent/mumble etc.
The blog mostly spoke about the
iteration of squads in WvW, but Jordan said it can also be used for
big encounters in PvE. Since the closest thing they have to raiding
that we've seen so far are non-instanced boss encounters, that
require a large group to take down and allow for anyone to join the
fight at any time. Basically, you can walk in on a fight, click on
someone who's in a squad, and select the option to join that squad.
I can see certain squad leaders
becoming sort of like heroes in the game. The ones who know the
content very well and are able to rally players to success. Their
names you'll get to know, you'll want to join their groups whenever
you see them, and they will bring the community together. That sort
of virtual glory should be enough to drive squad leaders to do their
best.
With 3 days left before pre-purchase,
I'm overly excited to get into the next beta. I'll be sure to leave
my impressions here and hopefully get some videos since there won't
be an NDA. Till then, let me know what you think of the Squad
feature.
I think squads will be a good mechanic in GW2. Especially in those big boss encounters...a little organization wouldn't be so bad.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I think it's necessary since anyone from anywhere can join in. Without the Squad system, it could be very chaotic. They're saying it's going to cost a lot of gold, so only people that are really interested in leading will buy the rights to.
ReplyDelete