I didn't play Guild Wars the original. There, I said it. Somehow that particular title slipped through my fingers. I can't say what it was that kept me from investigating it, but I knew it existed. It somehow just never spoke to me. So no, I am not a Guild Wars expert. I am also not a Guild Wars 2 expert (though I have played more GW2 than GW1), and in actuality, no one is*. So, why write about GW2, and what makes me think I can?
Well first, I'm writing about GW2 because I need to write. I need to hone my skills. I'm writing about GW2 because I'm absolutely in love with it. I love almost everything about it. I love it. Not only do I love it, but it's a relatively new scene. There are 3.2 million blogs about WoW out there. I counted. Not so many for GW2. It's easier to get my foot in the door.
So what makes me think I can write about GW2, when I know next to nothing about its predecessor, its company, its lore, or its community? Well, I know about games, I know about MMOs, and I know about game design.
The easy one: I've been playing video games for my entire life. I'm 31. I've played on my Commodore 64, Atari, 386 PC in a wooden case, original Nintendo, on and on. I've been doing it for a long time now. I know both in my gut and in my brain (more on this in a sec) what makes a good game. A lot of people can say the same thing.
I've played a lot of MMOs. I started with text MUDs, my favorite being Simutronics' Dragonrealms. Then came the EverQuest beta, and I've been a graphical junky ever since. At first the MMO landscape was a mystery to me, the mechanics, the economy (both in game and out), and the community were all behind a thick veil of fog. Since then, I've played in many more universes**, and the mystery has lifted. It's unfortunate in a way: not knowing everything that's going on can create for some extremely fun times. Playing WoW without raiding, without using Wowhead, and without artificial rules covering etiquette, efficient grinding, and min/maxed specs and gear removes a lot of the restrictions on gameplay. Well, that's gone. All the information you can possibly stand is at your fingertips for every conceivable MMO out there, and there's no longer an excuse to not know something about a game. Though this kind of accessable information has removed an element of fun for me, it has opened a new avenue for fun: becoming a go-to expert on both the mundane and detailed aspects of an MMO. Many people can make this claim as well.
I also design games. Not professionally yet, but I'm working on that. I have a degree in game design. I actually went to school specifically for game design. I didn't get a computer science with a minor in game design degree; no. I have a BS in game design. I've made games. I know what makes good games, and what makes bad games. At least, I know the theory. There are games popping up all the time that surprise you, but I at least know the ideas and concepts behind solid game design. So when I say I make and analyze games, I mean it. When I say I can play GW2 with a critical eye, and make commentary regarding gameplay, I mean it. Not a tremendous amount of people can say that, and I think only a relatively few can say all three.
So, that's why I'm writing about GW2. I love the game, I need to write, and I feel that I'm qualified to do so. During the course of this blog, I will learn about writing critically, and hopefully become skilled at it. I'll also learn about GW2 and warrior gameplay, and I hope my few readers will also.
*Well, maybe some folks at ArenaNet. But I'll wager, even they aren't "experts" yet. No one knows what kind of emergent gameplay the player base will have created a year from now.
** EverQuest, EverQuest 2, Dungeons and Dragons Online, City of Heroes, Star Wars Galaxies, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Rift, Lord of the Rings Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Warhammer Online, Earth and Beyond, Tabula Rasa, and World of Warcraft.
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