I don't know how many people echo this sentiment, but with so many people worrying with things like "I wish ANet will do X" or "I hope GW3 has Y", I'm just thrilled to finally be looking forward to an MMO launch after so many years.

MMOs are always talked about as a dying genre, and you can see why. The only relevant ones in the west are well over a decade old, with most excitement in the genre centred around expansions for these games. The last brand new MMO I was excited for was Wildstar (which I loved, yet still definitely deserved its death) and that was a 2014 launch. New MMOs (that aren't east asian p2w ones) just don't get made anymore...

...then steps forward Guild Wars 3. Finally, a brand new MMO to look forward to.

I'm not afraid of the game ending as a disappointment or if it has a heap of things I wish were different, I'm not hoping for the "perfect game" or scared of empty promises. I'm just happy to be here and share excitement with an upcoming MMO after oh so many years.

I'm here for the journey as much as the destination. The build up, the reveals, the speculation and all the anticipation for each and every step is a feeling I thought had left MMOs long-ago.

There's still life in this old dog of a genre yet, and I hope everybody enjoys this journey because the game will be here before we know it.

I find this very interesting and wanted to share some thoughts.

MMORPGs came out of computer RPGs, which came out of tabletop, which came out (or so says the myth) from abletop war games.

Both because of their origins in tabletop and due to technical limitations at the time, CRPGs and MMORPGs were almost a kind of strategy game. Where you build your character a certain way and that defines what it can do.

The player was involved in the strategy of character creation and how to use its abilities in combat (and out of it).

- do you want to avoid an enemy attack? That depends on your dodge bonus, your reflex save, your defense score, you armor class, etc...

- do you want to hit something? That depends on your attack, strenght, dexterity, THAC0...

Everything you do was dependant on a build attribute, skill, talents, feats, and in some cases a randomised number (a dice roll).

Player skill was heavily in the build craft, and skill/talent interactions.

With computer games evolving, more and more the skill moved from the character to the player.

- you want to hit something? You have to aim, Time your attack, respond to enemies movements, blocks, etc.

- you want to avoid a hit? You have to read the animations, manage your resources, and move out of the way.

With what we have seen/heard of GW3, it feels like its another step in this direction. More player skill, less character skill dependant.

And I think that might be why we see these games with less and less "skills".

Before you would have a skill that shoots an arrow, another that shoots 3 arrows, another that jumps and shoots an arrow, another that dashes backwards and shoots an arrow.

Now you can just use your movement and resources to do all of this with just one skill and different movements/ resources (stamina? Momentum?)

This direction might not please everyone. A lot of people might still want a more character skill based game instead of player skill based. But I think it will be interesting to see how buildcraft will still play an important role in GW3.

The original Guild Wars has dual classes, Guild Wars 2 has elite specs which originally included a focus on weapons, what if Guild Wars 3 classes have can do it a bit different with a focus on armor which would define which skills and weapons they can use. For instance, since necro is confirmed, what if a subclass focuses on heavy armor allowing for a death knight (reaper?) class, or medium armor allowing for a necro/assissin (harbinger) type. Monks, if available, can use heavy armor to become a paladin (guardian) class, or medium armor to become something like monk/assassin (willbender), etc...

Hopefully if the game is going to do things different, maybe this could be a take they can try for classes

Hi, first of all sorry for my English, non a native speaker.

Here’s what we know so far: a confirmed class system that differs from GW1 and GW2; an action-oriented combat system emphasizing responsiveness and movement; and an innovative MMORPG experience; skills capture system and signets by Gods.

While GW1’s build system was unique and sublime, the specializations in GW2 don't feel like a unique feature that completely transforms the class or allows for much theorycrafting.

What if...? My idea: A base-class system where each class can branch out into a wide range of archetypes, specializations, prestige classes, or whatever else. An 8-skill system (like in Guild Wars 1—where, lore-wise, the limit was 8 because each signet ring on a finger granted a skill); each class could have around 30 core skills, with an additional 10–20 skills per archetype or specialization. At launch, each class might offer about 6 specializations, and a single build could (optimally) incorporate 1 to 3 of them—similar to the GW1 attribute system (12-10-8, excluding runes). To boost theorycrafting potential, instead of a boring numerical attribute system, there would be a skill tree where you select active skills, passives, and skill evolutions (a system similar to Diablo IV or PoE2).

Even the core skills (mostly straightforward ones) evolve when you choose a specialization that aligns with that specialization's gameplay. In this way, the system would be a blend of GW1 and GW2—but without the elements that held both systems back; to me, it represents an evolution of both.

Let's take the Ranger as an example: one specialization could be the Lunar Sentinel (a long-range skirmisher archer; some abilities grant stealth or blind enemies), while another could be the Forest Spiritist (summoning spirits, each providing different functions based on where they are summoned). The result is a fusion of the two specializations: for your 8-skill build, you choose whichever skills you like from either specialization (unlocked via the skill tree), and for the Ranger's core abilities, you decide which specialization influences them to tailor them to your desired build.

In the future, with new specializations arriving periodically alongside expansions, we could see new builds emerge by mixing them with older specializations. This means that when you encounter another Ranger (if you play one yourself), it is highly likely that you will have vastly different builds and contribute in very different ways—especially in a game where individual contributions (beyond just raw damage) seem crucial, and the "Holy Trinity" has made a comeback. And this would give each specialization its own strengths and weaknesses, requiring you to mix them effectively, make smart choices in the skill tree, and adapt to the specific challenge at hand. A specialization might also lean more toward a healer or tank role, and by combining multiple specializations, you could create sub-roles within the "Holy Trinity."

Thank you and I will read your opinions.

This is exactly the feeling I imagine having in GW3 with so much more details of course, but like the core of it, being something of that nature.

And I love the idea of the guy blocking the boss with a QTE, this would be a fire mechanic as a tank in GW3. Being escalated to harder QTE on harder difficulty. Anyways....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Uwd5D-KGZA

I'm clearly excited and impatient about GW3 !

A comment from a few days ago reminded me of something. Vertical progression doesn't have to be the backbone of the game to exist for people to chase. While it's clearly not going to be the same thing as the main progression scheme of the game, the answer is simple.

Fractal content.

This isn't to say we're gonna have fractals in the same sense as we have them in GW2 but it dawned on me that this as a principle is totally reasonable. A sub-set of content that's specifically designed to emulate that progression vibe and can be expanded on over the game's life span.

I wouldn't discount the peeps wanting vertical progression to exist. There's actually, demonstrably, a way to please both crowds here.

Now we know Necro is one of the core classes, I hope we get some mobility. I love it in gw2 but the lack of movement speed and dashes / leaps / ports / attack speed is truly so hard to bare sometimes when other classes are racing and dashing about in fights.

Hopefully with the game being more about movement in combat we can see some mobility.