Vernacademia Season 1: Episode 35: Builds via Guild Wars 2 (Pt.2)

A continuation of our examination of character build systems in games, using Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2 as examples. Here we look at the changes made to the build system between two games and the overall effects on the player experience.

Our Website: https://www.vernaculargames.com/
Our Subscribestar: https://www.subscribestar.com/vernaculargames
Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/VernacularGames
Our Minds: https://www.minds.com/vernaculargames/
Our Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VernacularGames/
Our Twitter: https://twitter.com/VernacularGames?lang=en
Our Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/redcoatvernac
Our Audius: https://audius.co/vernaculargames

Cliff Notes:

00:05 Introduction of Subject
00:51 Guild Wars 1 flaws
02:26 Arenanet's Response
03:04 Lowering Complexity
04:18 Guild Wars 2 Professions
05:06 Reduced Skill Options
06:44 Addressing Builds
08:27 Addressiong Build Elitism
09:10 Simplifying Defensive Play
10:36 Consequences of the Changes
10:42 Consequence of Energy Removal
12:42 Homogenized Play
14:00 Role Reduction
15:26 Lost Sight of Original's Strengths
16:34 Next Cast
16:55 Where you can find our casts
17:49 Sign Off