What I Have My Eye On:
Guild Wars 2
Co-opportunity Updates: The Engineer and hints at upcoming Reveals
As always, I’m always on the lookout for new Guild Wars 2 news. The past month brought some details on the city of Lion’s Arch (which some of you will be familiar with from the first game). The city was completely drowned in the sea when the Elder Dragon Zhaitan emerged from the deeps. As the waters gradually receded, Lion’s Arch became a refuge for smugglers, pirates, and the like. The city was rebuilt from the ruins and the shipwrecks that had washed up on the shores; no more a human city, it’s a city where all the races work side-by-side as equals, battling the horrors that the elder dragon sends their way. I’m quite sure this will be a gathering place for players as they unite to go and adventure.
The month also brought a new profession reveal, the Engineer. The engineer sounds like an excellent team player who can really help a group reach its full potential. With the ability to throw down heal and support items, become a controller of a battlefield with freezes, snares, or nets, or dish out the damage through landmines or flamethrowers, the engineer will certainly have a lot to do. It seems that a truly successful engineer will be completely in-tune to his or her party members, breaking out the right kit, turret, or grenade at exactly the right moment to support the team.
ArenaNet won’t be at E3 this year, but they’ve teased that they’ll have some big reveals coming in August at Gamescon and PAX Prime. I can only guess and hope what these reveals will be.
TERA (The Exiled Realm of Arborea)
Co-opportunity Updates: Fast-paced support action
TERA hasn’t been shy about its untraditional combat system. Touting itself as “the first true action MMORPG,” I’ve known for awhile that aiming and dodging will be the bread and butter of the game. Some articles and previews that have come out in the past month, however, have been highlighting just how this system affects the support classes (mystics and priests). PC Gamer recently ran a preview on these classes and discussed in-depth how healing one’s party members (especially the smaller ones!) takes no small amount of skill. As one casts, suggestions of similar spells will pop up on the screen (much like a chain system), allowing players to hit the space bar for the suggested spell while they concentrate on the action (which probably involves chasing after the people who need healing!). As a healer at heart, this prospect excites me as there’s nothing I love more than skill-based healing. Too often I find that games make things more “difficult” for healers by simply just making the enemies or bosses do more damage. If TERA is advocating battlefield awareness, reaction time, and movement as staples for healing and supporting a party, then hell yes, I’m on board. I certainly have my eye on TERA and hopefully E3 will bring some new information on the game.
If you guys are playing a different MMO, what updates have you seen recently in your game that provide new or improved co-opportunities? Or what news have you heard recently on upcoming MMOs that gets you really excited about potential co-opportunities?