Monday, May 09, 2005

Guild Wars Challenges

There is some challenges that are presented in GW that have some interesting social dynamics, but before I talk about those first I need to talk about that dismal excuse for an online multiplayer game Americas Army.

See with AA, to play the multiplayer component you first have to complete basic training which means that to play multiplayer you have to know how to run, crawl, jump, fire and reload a rifle, use all the weapons in the game and fire aimed shots at a distant targets.

Basic training is great because everybody who then plays the multiplayer might not know the map or where the objectives are, but they can shoot at the enemy and should have their controls configured by then. And nobody can attempt to play a multiplayer game without having the capacity to win.

GW has a similar thing because one of the earlier quests forces you to join a party with real people and communicate with each other to complete a quest. This particular quest involves your party getting a group of enemy units into a specific spot while one of you holds back and pulls on a leaver.

This is significant because it means that anybody playing the game in the area that I am now in has joined a party with real people and communicated with each other to coordinate a maneuver.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
This screenshot is taken with a party of AI controlled party members. Great if you are an unsociable git like me or just can't be bothered finding people who are doing the same side quest as you.