Interview on Energy about GW2

Ravious from KillTenRats.com had the chance to sit down with Guild Wars 2 Developers Jon Peters and Isaiah Cartwright as well as ArenaNet Community Managers Regina Buenaobra and Martin Kerstein to discuss energy, skills, dungeons and even managed to squeeze in a PvP question.

The interview takes us through the beginning brainstorming process that led to energy bars and why playing offensively will be the key to Guild Wars 2.

Moving into player cooperation they touch on numerous subjects such as healing and the support role, epic encounters and dungeons."Did the player use 3 potions in a fight? None?... When a player goes back to town to dump vendor trash and restock potions, the amount of potions required to restock can be used as a measure of how well the run went."The controversial subject of potions is also explored and how they can be used to measure the success of an encounter:

First, potions are reset to a certain number each fight. Unlike PvE, the players are not really responsible for potions, and each player will have an equal amount. It's a pretty low number, but it resets on death. One mechanic they have been experimenting with is placing potions around a map so that during the battle players could go refill them. Cartwright said the system really works well with battlefield movement and spreading everybody out. The potions give a sort of re-supply mechanic. Obviously more defensive players will need to rely more on potions and the re-supply mechanic.

Re-posted articles by Jelana from ALLCDKEY.Finally they move into PvP and how potions are being explored in that arena:"If a player is playing offensively, the energy bar is very easy to manage. It's when the player goes in to a very defensive mindset that the energy bar starts draining quite fast... Very easy encounters will barely touch the energy bar, whereas difficult encounters requiring many defensive maneuvers and skills will put a significant dent in the energy bar."