Guild Wars 2 : Injecting Role-Playing into Ascalon
MMORPG writer Bill Murphy has some interesting observations about how role-playing, arguably missing from many MMORPGs these days, will actually have a fighting chance of success in Guild Wars 2. ArenaNet is giving players the chance to breathe life into their characters and to meaningfully alter the world around them. Read it and then give us your thoughts.
BioWare has long been considered the leader in creating personality for the player-character in its single-player games. Through dialog choices and actions, games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age let you interact with the world and shape how the NPC inhabitants will see you. None of this ever really has a huge effect on the game's outcome, but it allows a certain level of player-driven character building that's welcome and indeed an integral part of an RPG. It's not surprising then that BioWare hopes to bring this to its forthcoming MMORPG. What is more surprising however is that ArenaNet seems to be taking a stab at it themselves in the forthcoming sequel to Guild Wars.