Guild Wars 2 Interview With ArenaNet's Eric Flannum | Kill Ten Rats Q: Is there anything undergoing iteration for Guild Wars 2 that fans might not expect? Eric: It’s hard to anticipate what fans might or might not be expecting. I can say that just about everything is still undergoing active development, from our trait system to character lighting to sound and music. We’ve made a lot of progress, but polish and refinement is what makes the difference between a good game and a great game. We are committed to making certain Guild Wars 2 is a great game when it releases. More questions you'll find answered in the interview. Q: ArenaNet touts “iteration” a lot in interviews and official blog posts. Is it not the industry norm to iterate during MMO development? Are other games’ leads more bullheaded and less willing to deviate from the plan? What makes ArenaNet’s iteration of Guild Wars 2 special? Q: How do the creators of the “less than acceptable” designs for Guild Wars 2 handle the change? How is the decision to not accept the working design made? Passionate developers can be protective of their design, and ArenaNet seems full of passionate people. Q: Energy in Guild Wars 2 was iterated away to simply being the dodge bar, and a different long-term energy resource is under development. ArenaNet seemed so sure of the energy mechanic; how can such a sure thing get scrapped so far along in development? Does a solution, such as the energy mechanic replacement, need to be on the table, or is it enough to say “this isn’t working as intended”? Q: We know that art and sound are iterated just as much as systems design, such as the sylvari re-design. Another thing I heard was that an early cinematic we saw was taken through another polishing pass, and I actually had a hard time believing that it could have been improved. Is it harder to know when such a subjective piece of the game is done? How do the artists and engineers know when to stop fiddling or polishing and move on? Q: Can you give us an example of something ArenaNet learned from Guild Wars 2 alpha testing with regards to the need for iteration? Take a look directly at Kill Ten Rats Blog
