ArenaNet talk:Guild Wars 2 suggestions/In-game Beastiary

Imported from new /scratchpad

One thing I have always wanted in the first Guild Wars was an in-game bestiary. I think anyone who plays Guild Wars will agree that all of the artists have done an amazing job. It would be great in Guild Wars 2 if after encountering a new enemy (or location) you received a bio page that allowed you to read the lore and admire the model's artwork that you otherwise don't get to examine too closely since you are smashing/slicing/nuking said monster. This could even be tied into a title track that would further reward players for exploring the world.Caladin 12:20, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

I think this would be a pretty cool idea. There could be a title tied to identifying all the monsters of the game. Furthermore, maybe identifying all types of a certain species would give you a bit of an advantage to defeating them because you know their weaknesses.

Hmmm. That is interesting. Honestly it sounds like something like this should tie into the wiki though? It'd require a bit more "stuff" to match up with what you're thinking of (e.g. various animations of the model and possibly a rotatable 3D view), of course. -- Sirius (talk) 13:19, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

wiki was eventually supposed to be better incorporated with the game anyway. I hope they develop that further. (Terra Xin 13:38, 28 June 2008 (UTC))

Agreed on all fronts, I think the bestiary title should be called "naturalist", and you should only get points for it if you kill the monsters on hard mode (if they still have hard mode, which I hope they do), and then that dude who yells out your titles in Rata Sum or wherever he is can say something like "How many of Melandru's creatures did you slaughter to call yourself a 'naturalist', Player X?". (Satanael 07:41, 30 June 2008 (UTC))

In my opinion, at least rangers should have this ability. They are supposed to know a lot of things about nature. "Csoma" --The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:81.182.82.225 (talk).

Imported from old /scratchpad

Simple, whenever you kill a monster, random animal or boss, it is added to your book. Full books = Title.--The Gates Assassin 05:30, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

I like this idea, was thinking about something similar to this. Also, it can be used with offline activity idea on here. Just imagine - after some time playing you go offline, while your char is writing entries in his/her(/its O_o) bestiary book about creatures you met while playing! And when you log on, yet unfinished entries - if you were offline just a little time, so character has not enough time to fill - won't be shown, only percentage of completion. But with this like system, bestiary may have influence only on side things, that are useful, but not vital, like titles, some items/skills or side quests. Ratys 15:50, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

Very good idea of keeping track of monsters killed, bosses helped to kill = earn a title. Excellent idea. The easier the animal to kill the more you have to the bosses only require one kill. More interesting than current titles that are frankly boring and too time consuming.

And I don't mean just a list of everything you have killed, full on beastary. Have it display species, health, energy, skills, short description, locations, levels, Boss/Not boss, tips ect. Would help the wikis out A LOT. --The Gates Assassin 03:36, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

I like this idea. I also think a tips section could be player-written. For instance, if you noticed that an enemy relies on a certain skill, you could make a note to interrupt it or evade it. Also, a player could write in tactics that would help with survival when facing that enemy, like spreading out to avoid AOE damage. Then when you come back to facing the same enemy (or a similar one), you can formulate a strategy for taking it down. --Strades

Like a scrapbook that inserted your best victories to date, then as you progressed you could remove events you don't care for. This could also be used in the guild hall. You know "The best of The Best". BC 5-9-08

Hmm what about another thing added on: Fastest kill time. From the point which you anger it to the point it is dead.--The Gates Assassin 03:01, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

I like this idea. maybe you can use titles for that too, but i think it should only be used when your alone in your party, it is still a challenge then else you can kill (almost)every enemy. an example: your alone in your party you see a gargoyle and attack it then the time starts when its dead it stops. u killed it in lets say 12 seconds your last record was 17 seconds but now you get a title because you can kill a gargoyle within 15 second "Gargoyle Killer" or something

This would give every Guild Wars Player a Pokedex :P. Like the idea though, there´s nothing wrong with a pokedex^^. It could be like a journal in which you write what it looks like, its behaviour, draw a picture, and discribe its weaknesses, for example: magical weaknesses to ice/fire/water/wind/lightning/light/dark etc. and physical weakness to stabbing/slashing/smashing/piercing/poking dmg ;). °Bragoran°

A good thing about this would be that the more types of Generic Monster killed, the more info would be unlocked. Ten would unlock a picture or general lore, twenty would give battle strategies, weaknesses, attributes, and 40 (max) would give the creatures skill bar and attributes. It's not like these things can't easily be found using the GW2 Wiki which will doubtlessly exist then. Titles about with 1 point for level 1 research, and 2 and 3 for the other levels, with more points unlocking higher titles, which unlock some kind of generic bonus against creatures on that continent.

if this idea was put through, I think I would spend a lot of my time just reading the monster descriptions and historical information. Alongside adding its statistical information, you could give hints about certain beasts that could lead to a quest just by reading the stuff. (222.153.6.33 15:38, 7 June 2008 (UTC))

I just got a blast from the past with that pokédex thing, it got me remembering when searching through the pokémon, finding where to get them. And I thought the same could be used.. for the GW monsters AND elite skills. -Lt Death 19:20, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

It would be cool if when you killed a monster for the first time, a little symbol popped up in the corner, or somewhere where nothing is. If you clicked on it, it would open up your bestiary, and go to that monster's page. maybe parts of the page could be unlocked based on what you use on it for weaknesses and strengths, skills it uses and such. things like picture, health and stuff would start once you had the page. the kill count way could also work. --The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:98.114.3.178 (talk).

I love this idea. Totally Signed She of the Comfey Chair 14:12, 17 February 2009 (UTC)

Potential coding difficulty

Recently, "Could be difficult to code." was removed from "Why it may not work out". I think it belongs here, if coding beastiaries was always easy, I think that more games would have them. -- Gordon Ecker 00:20, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

There is no difficulties. One of the easier things to code. There's work involved, ofc, but where are you free ffrom that? But thechnical limitations do not apply. Backsword 07:46, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

mhmm. It should be kept in exclusion because that's a statement that would otherwise come from the developer's perspective, not the community's. If Anet directly responds by saying that there could be technical difficulties then we could add it in. (Terra Xin 02:12, 4 August 2008 (UTC))