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Guild Wars 3 | Summer Game Fest Trailer

I think the problem is I see it as a MMORPG instead of the same model like Diablo.

I just prefer to continue to play the same game.

I know you can keep playing Guild Wars 2 but still.
I do understand the sentiment. I'm on a search for that "permanent" MMO myself.
 
Happy to see a sequel. I still have to play all expansions after End of Dragons. Maybe I will binge them once we know more about the release timing.

Still, not a fan of the art style. Maybe it's just the trailer, but we will see, ArenaNet has great artists so I'm not worried too much. I hope they combine the best aspects of GW1 and GW2 combat, it would be cool if they could bring back some of the slower pacing/tactical aspect of GW1 without sacrificing the more action oriented combat of GW2.
 
It doesn't look anything like Guild Wars 2. If it weren't for the name at the top, I wouldn't have a clue what kind of game it's supposed to be.
 
It doesn't look anything like Guild Wars 2. If it weren't for the name at the top, I wouldn't have a clue what kind of game it's supposed to be.
For me that's a good thing. I never liked the high saturation colors and the menu style of GW2. I have some friends who are big GW fans though so if GW3 will look better I might join them on this one.
 
For me that's a good thing. I never liked the high saturation colors and the menu style of GW2. I have some friends who are big GW fans though so if GW3 will look better I might join them on this one.
I just want to know what all that talk was about momentum and movement. How does that translate to actual gameplay and especially combat? I'm intrigued but not sold.
 
Not that it matters much, but the announcement trailer of GW2 was on a completely different level of hype. This one is very tame by comparison.

 
Not that it matters much, but the announcement trailer of GW2 was on a completely different level of hype. This one is very tame by comparison.


I'm actually glad they didn't do a trailer like this because to many people it felt like a bait-and-switch for what Guild Wars 2 actually was.

I like GW 2, but that teaser video felt more like a traditional sequel (like Mass Effect 1 to Mass Effect 2 for example) than what we actually got.

I think it's more honest of them this time around to not use Guild Wars 2 locales and imagery to try and hype up GW3.
 
Some stream notes:
  • They will continue doing yearly expansions for GW2
  • Guild Wars 2 Hall of Monuments will connect to Guild Wars 3
  • They plan to support Guild Wars 1, 2, and 3 at the same time
  • They want to do this so that anyone interested in one game will try out another
  • Guild Wars 1 will continue getting new content for the forseeable future
  • Potential graphical updates and more optimization for Guild Wars 2
  • They noticed people going back to play Guild Wars 1 after finishing Guild Wars 2, both because of connected rewards but also because of genuine interest, so they're expanding on that with Guild Wars 3
  • Guild Wars 3 = Long ago Prequel to Guild Wars 1
  • Guild Wars 3 = no tech/high fantasy, Guild Wars 1 = fantasy/low tech, Guild Wars 2 = fantasy/high tech
  • They will have a drip feed of more explanation, talks, and teases in the coming months
 
Not that it matters much, but the announcement trailer of GW2 was on a completely different level of hype. This one is very tame by comparison.


I'm with you with the feeling, but at the same time I have faith in the artists of Arenanet. They showed multiple time that they are really talented.

Guild Wars 3 = no tech/high fantasy, Guild Wars 1 = fantasy/low tech, Guild Wars 2 = fantasy/high tech
That's interesting. I really can't wait to see more, thanks for the notes !
 
First dev diary is up:



Some notes:
  • The setting is Ancient Orr, 1000 years pre-GW 1
  • Orr is where the Charr invasion happened in GW 1, where the gods lived and left, and where the Elder Dragons from GW 2 were
  • You don't need to have played Guild Wars 1 or 2 to get story context for 3
  • (side note) New locations, storylines, and characters confirmed for Guild Wars 2's future post-Guild Wars 3
  • For the story they wanted to show conflicts between smaller guilds rather than focusing on war
  • Guild Wars 3's story is a bit more grounded where magic is considered a powerful commodity
  • Concept art is shown of a giant flowing river of magic that goes across lands and can be seen from a distance
  • This causes a rising tension and when magic falls into the wrong hands it can lead to disastrous outcomes
  • City in the Sky called "Arah" that's visible from every direction and is seen as a threat to those who have fallen from divine favor
  • Due to rising tension, most people seek help from "The Order of the Vale" (they show a hint that this order is connected to Arah)
  • Due to this, the order is exhausted because they don't have enough people to help everyone
  • Instead of fighting distant threats or abstract villains, they want to make what the player does matter more to the land and inhabitants more directly

Future dev diaries are coming on lore, characters, gameplay, and systems.
 
It looks like their announcement for GW3 has finally worked on me. I have spent ~$30 on GW Reforged and ~60 on GW2 for the End of Dragons expansion and a boost to get a new character slot and bank slot. I left before that expansion came out.

I repurchased GW (Reforged) 2x since Steam version is not compatible with iOS version. I could not recover my OG account. I also started replaying GW2 this weekend on my "fun" account. It is an account that has zero roleplay characters. Actually, they are all female characters with my personal guild set up at [HOT] Hot Cross Buns. :messenger_tears_of_joy: I have forgotten so much of the story I am rerolling a couple of characters to work through it again. I hope I do not get consumed. I still want to have a gaming life outside of an mmo and that is usually hard for me to do.

With recent news I am no longer as hyped for a PS6 version since I might not end up with a PS6. If they bring it to the Sony handheld that could be interesting. I am still excited for the PC version.
 
Main theme recently released:



Kazuma Jinnouchi is the composer, secondary composer Asuka Ito, in conjunction with music lead Nadia Wheaton:



Their musical pillars:
  1. Melody is paramount (they want themes to stick with players years from now, much like the last two games)
  2. Respect the legacy (they will potentially bring in some popular themes from older games depending on the location, like Lion's Arch)
  3. Negative Space (allowing individual instruments to breathe and give a sense of atmosphere and also allow for silence in the game at times so that you want the music to return)
  4. Sense of Place (they want to make sure that the music matches the environment, much like the older 2 games)

Maclaine Diemer (Guild Wars 2 composer) is being brought back as well. Sadly no Jeremy Soule for obvious reasons, however they have the right pillars and mindset for potentially making good music.

A side note from me: The most important thing they've said here is 'melody is paramount'. It's how most composers of the past thought. It's why people remember older themes from the 90s and 2000s... Final Fantasy, Doom, UT, Zelda, Mega Man (one of my favorite examples), Skyrim, Sonic, etc. so I'm hoping this soundtrack ends up alright.

For me it will depend on the themes that are not the relaxing, explorational music. They usually nail that stuff, but a small weak point in Guild Wars 2 was the other types of themes, especially battle themes.
 
Main theme recently released:


I like the song overall, but my biggest criticism is that it takes almost a minute for it to get anywhere meaningful, and I say this as someone who enjoys ambient music. I can point to something like say, the Uncharted or Halo themes which are instantly recognizable and distinct within the first ten seconds. Here, there is no such recognition. As an introduction to the music's direction and the composer's emphasis on melody being paramount, this is honestly a poor track to showcase that intent.

This is me being my usual nitpicky self, though. Guild Wars 3 is easily the game I'm most hyped about of anything that's on the horizon, and it's not even close.
 
I like the song overall, but my biggest criticism is that it takes almost a minute for it to get anywhere meaningful, and I say this as someone who enjoys ambient music. I can point to something like say, the Uncharted or Halo themes which are instantly recognizable and distinct within the first ten seconds. Here, there is no such recognition. As an introduction to the music's direction and the composer's emphasis on melody being paramount, this is honestly a poor track to showcase that intent.

This is me being my usual nitpicky self, though. Guild Wars 3 is easily the game I'm most hyped about of anything that's on the horizon, and it's not even close.
That's understandable, and to be fair though, usually for video games they will cut intros or outros in order to more suit the speed of something. That's why music tracks posted on youtube end up being longer sometimes than what you hear in the game. There have even been cases where I have found an entire second half of a song that a game never plays, probably because it simply didn't fit. It's up to the game leads collaborating with the music lead to make those choices.

Even when I close my eyes and listen to that track again, the first twenty seconds sound like 'Anet logo', followed by 'publisher logo' followed by 'engine logo' or something. Then you hear the violin strings come in around 19ish seconds which will probably be the start screen or a buildup to it with a logo flourish. Then the actual meat of the theme begins to kick in around 45 seconds, which I'm presuming the above will all happen on someone's first time booting the game to make this feel like a grandiose moment (You're finally here, GW 3 is out), and it might just skip straight to the 45 second mark on the next boot.

What is beyond 45 seconds sounds like 'login screen/select or create a character' music, which fits that player moment just fine.
 
That's understandable, and to be fair though, usually for video games they will cut intros or outros in order to more suit the speed of something. That's why music tracks posted on youtube end up being longer sometimes than what you hear in the game. There have even been cases where I have found an entire second half of a song that a game never plays, probably because it simply didn't fit. It's up to the game leads collaborating with the music lead to make those choices.

Even when I close my eyes and listen to that track again, the first twenty seconds sound like 'Anet logo', followed by 'publisher logo' followed by 'engine logo' or something. Then you hear the violin strings come in around 19ish seconds which will probably be the start screen or a buildup to it with a logo flourish. Then the actual meat of the theme begins to kick in around 45 seconds, which I'm presuming the above will all happen on someone's first time booting the game to make this feel like a grandiose moment (You're finally here, GW 3 is out), and it might just skip straight to the 45 second mark on the next boot.

What is beyond 45 seconds sounds like 'login screen/select or create a character' music, which fits that player moment just fine.
Yeah, you're very likely right. Even the World of Warcraft 1.0 title theme had a minor cut to "get to the point" for the release version of the song versus what you hear on the official soundtrack.
 
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