In a bit of redux of my Public Quests vs. Dynamic Events post, via GW2Guru, here is the ArenaNet GDC panel on Designing Dynamic Events.
If you have been following Guild Wars 2 and are excited about the possibilities, you need to watch this video. If you think Guild Wars 2 is an overhyped piece of derivative crap, you need to watch this video. And if you’re ambivalent on the subject, well… you need to watch this video. It’s around 45 minutes of presentation, and the rest reserved for Q&A.
What I really respect, and why I am so willing to take ArenaNet at their word on Guild Wars 2, is that they seem unafraid to examine and dismantle the systems that go into their game design decisions. It’s one thing to state that something is a good idea and wait for everyone to nod in agreement, and another to ask the questions of “why do people play games this way and not this way?” and be willing to test and iterate and observe the way people play their game and change accordingly.
Of particular interest is the segment in which Eric and Colin talk about the challenges they faced in dealing with players who are unfamiliar, even suspicious, of the mechanics being described, and how they dealt with those challenges. It’s not so much that I think ArenaNet has thought of every possible eventuality and nipped it in the bud as that I believe they’re watching and willing to learn and adapt. I majored in systems engineering many moons ago, so hearing Colin and Eric talk about systems and the big picture they’re considering here earns them huge thumbs up from me.
It’s worlds away from “working as intended.”
Casual Is As Casual Does 
There hasn’t been a single thing from Arenanet that made me think they haven’t looked at every senario. This game looks better and better everyday. I thought I wanted to play SWTOR bad, this game has now moved to my #1 slot
They really are working hard to push every one of my buttons. I love that they seem to be looking at everything, too, and don’t appear to be taking any MMO convention for granted.
A great presentation. I wrote a little bit more on my blog about it, but I can say here that I respect these developers; and that is more than I can say about Funcom or Mythic or Cryptic 🙂
Unfortunately for me this game is just not what I am looking for.
Fortunately for them I will still buy it, because some 50€ for a general RPG is always worth it.
For a good MMORPG, however, I’d easily pay 500€ a year.