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Come on. Like you did not see that last panel coming?

Okay, so I thought that, this being a blog and all, I should probably have something to blog about. Strange how "blog" has become a verb all of a sudden, is it not?

Anyway, I will try to keep things on topic and relevant as best as possible. Understand, though, that what you are reading comes from a philosophy grad so it may seem nothing more than incoherent rambling at some points. Rest assured, everything ties back together and, if it seems not to, that is because you clearly read something wrong and is no fault of mine*.

So today's topic is about "replayable content" which, naturally, refers to those aspects of a game that designers hope players will continue to participate in over and over again. Now, as I mentioned in my previous comic, PvP seems to be the only truly addictive aspect of Guild Wars for many of the more vocal players (although even this is debatable). This does make sense, though, becaue PvP is a wonderful way to continue to participate in an ever-evolving game-scape (re: "The Meta", not to be confused with http://rvb.wikia.com/wiki/Meta, and also just a fun way to blow-off steam after a rough day of work and/or class. It also comes in several flavors of difficulty and organization, which makes it a bit more accessible all around the board.

Now, the problem for a company that wants to keep the people gaming, however, is that you also have dedicated PvE'ers who want little to no part of PvP but still want to enjoy a game they have invested an ungodly amount of time in. As a result, designers often compose new campaigns or new questlines for players to appease their cravings. Sometimes, however, this just takes too much effort, so developers look for an easier way to patch the boo-boo. This is where replayable content comes in.

By incentivizing (yes, that is also a verb) replay of old content, developers hope to keep their loyal junkies hooked (er, I mean, customers happy) on their product. This is not in and of itself a bad thing, because it can sometimes make things that seemed utterly pointless when the game was first released (i.e. "collectable drops" ) much more useful (*coughNicholascough*). More on that later.

I do think, however, that developers can get a bit too carried away with these approaches sometimes. Reference the Zaishen Quests and introduction of equipment packs. It all seems rather cool until you realize that you need 15 Gold Zaishen Coins to get the best pack, each costing 10 Silver, and each silver costing 50 Copper. Hm, talk about inflation. That totals up to…what? 7.5K Copper Coins? That seems a bit steep for a pack that will not even hold all of your elite armors and weapons. Oh well. What do I know?

I guess it does end up being a bit of a good thing, because it gives you a reason to keep playing. The thing is, what do you do after you get everything? You beat every campaign, max every title, and own every armor. What next? PvP dominance? Then what?

The point is that any game can only be extended so long by adding more and more goals to it. You need some attractive quality about the whole thing that keeps you pushing forward. The same thing is true of life: If we just live in a goal-oriented world, eventually we will bottom out or die thinking we have "failed to reach our goal." It is a "GAME OVER: YOU LOSE," and that does not seem appealing at all, does it? It just seems like there needs to be a better approach to all of this. I love campaigns and leveling up, but you just need to find more to the game and more to life. This is why Guild Wars has mostly just come an artistic medium for me, as well as a social network. I do love to play the game, but I often find myself playing it in my own way without necessarily excluding the way it was "designed" or the way others play it in the process. This keeps it fun for me. It keeps me coming back. What about you?

*Seriously, if you do not understand something or disagree, please feel free to comment so we can discuss it. I am not really an elitist bastard…well, okay, I am, but I am a reasonable elitist bastard.