Annual ArenaNet Christmas Cards

[Alaris]

Oh, didn't know about difficulty levels. Ty for info.

[Zero]

Go for the hardest difficulty if you've played any Diablo. I still didn't find it too hard, pretty standard fire and kite but it was alot of fun and everything did pose a good amount of threat to you.

Haven't had my card yet but I did give my address in rather late due to moving house over Xmas. It looks pretty good though.

[sorudo]

there is also a game called darkstone, a bit like diablo but with most things 3D, sorta one of the first true 3D game of it's kind.

[Hanok Odbrook]

Ah, and what makes them good, gameplay-wise?

For me, it was the immersion factor. The RPGs of old were not much for story outside of "the main baddy is terrorizing the town - go kill him," but the path to the baddy was what kept me interested.

A lot of the game play was grind, but I had more time back then, and with Wizardry and EotB, a lot of the interest was in trying to roll the highest stats possible for each character and the party based exploration in the team made up of your characters, and there was no worry of having the right character or team build - that didn't limit your ability to explore as desired. It was also mapping out the dungeons on graph paper and exploring every possible inch of the dungeons to find secret items. A lot if it may harken back to the good ole pen and paper days of D&D.

What draws me now is that party based exploration, and being able to go anywhere and do anything in a game. While those games of old were limited to the dungeon areas - you still had the freedom to explore as you desired, which is one of the things I like about Dragon Age (and heard about in Oblivion, which I hope to load up one day). I think I keep going back to those games because of the freedom they offered - I don't have to worry about what skills or professions I bring along, I can explore the deepest levels of the game regardless.

Hanok
"Self-control is a wondrous thing. Just because there's an easy button, doesn't mean you have to use it." - Anonymous

[shawn]

Why are you guys all going on about top-down rpgs from early/mid 2000s? Those certainly won't make gw look primitive. I was talking about games that give a proper sense of immersion.. primarily, freedom of movement. Jumping, swimming, flight, with better animation + graphics, etc. Stuff found in Aion (even though the gameplay's ****), FF XIV, and yes, even Cataclysm. If you're capable of looking at other games without bias - which, according to some replies here, is doubtful - it's plain to see.

[Sir Jack]

FF XIV

I hear very, very, very different opinions on that being anywhere near a good game.


On RPGs, for some reason I like most of the games Bioware chugs out, Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, Baldur's Gate, etc. Mass Effect 1&2 being on my list for a long time. They're mostly linear games with lots of walls to jump against, but the gameplay and storyline is always good enough to keep me playing. Knights of the Old Republic 2 is...almost as good as the first. If you get the patches and Restoration Project mod because it was rushed and lots of content was left out.

The Gothic series, while even older, is also a pretty good RPG with a lot of free roaming available for the player to explore and discover hidden caves with awesome weapons and items. 1 and 2 are great, 3...not so much, but mostly because again, it was rushed, resulting in a metric ****ton of bugs, I guess most of them should be fixed by now though. It does have a huge world to explore, all of which is loaded only once.

For me though, plot and gameplay > graphics. So I often enjoy old games a lot more than newer ones.

[shawn]

For what it's worth, I think FF XIV is terrible. I have friends that were all for it though.. for a month or two anyway, then they went to Cata.

[Alaris]

I often get my games from the bargain bin for 3 reasons: they're cheaper, patches are out, and they've been reviewed properly.

Gameplay > graphics > lore for me.

Call it bias if you want, but that's what's important for me. I try to be objective about the value of games, but I select based on what's important.

[Regina Buenaobra]

For a better view of the card itself, go to the main page. http://guildwars.incgamers.com/

I made a blog entry yesterday with that card. If you like a large version, visit http://www.arena.net/blog

I recognize some new signatures compared to the old cards I have.
PS: The sig to the left of "Thanks..." is most likely Charr handwriting

I changed my signature from previous years, as my previous one was simply my initials. I thought it made more sense to at least include my first name in a legible form. :p

[Lady Rhonwyn]

I changed my signature from previous years, as my previous one was simply my initials. I thought it made more sense to at least include my first name in a legible form. :p

Yes, it did stand out on the card (could also be because a felt tipped pen was used )

But I really loved this card.

Spoiler

At least they're all together on it, and it made the end of Edge of Destiny a bit more bearable, knowing they're together at least somewhere!