We sat down with ArenaNet to talk about the new WvW map, Edge of the Mists.

In terms of actually getting the content put into existing maps it is a little more complex with all of the testing that is required to make sure things are working the way team wants them to work. One nice thing about the testing is that the more stuff is tested the more they know the specifics of the reactions and why that content it good, the less they have to worry when it is moved into the other existing maps. If they know they made fun versions of things on the Edge of the Mists and they know why it is fun, then it is easier for them to repeat that and move it into a new map.

They said that there isn’t really a timeline for implementing new content into the existing maps, but that depending on the changes some things could come faster than others. I asked if they had or will ever consider working toward a new WvW map instead of making these changes to the existing maps and their answer came down to getting the most value out of development time and resources.

They both said that obviously creating a new map would be awesome if it were easy. Making a new map for WvW would probably be six times as much work as any other map because everything needs to be balanced for three competing factions, especially when trying to make each objective interesting and unique. The Bloodlust changes to the Borderlands maps for example, took months to test and that was just replacing some of the content in the center of the map with one new content type. More drastic changes would take more time to implement.

The Edge of the Mists is a smaller map but, since they decided on a new map to fix the queuing problem about 12 months ago, at least one person has been thinking or actively working on creating this single map. Devon said that when they have the resources and time to build a new map that it might be the most valuable thing for them to do, but changes like making different versions for each keep lord on all the maps is much quicker to implement and might have more impact in terms of the time it takes.

There are a lot of ideas the team has on how they want to improve WvW in the future. The Edge of the Mists was a huge step forward, as now if they put a huge amount of resources into WvW it won’t cause the queuing problem to get even worse as players will be able to go into the new map and create overflows to experience the new WvW content.

As the interview was winding down I asked if the team has decided how long each match will last and what impact Edge of the Mists will have on the other maps. Currently the team is looking at the Edge of the Mists lasting 4 hours for a matchup, but that it will most definitely end up lasting 4 to6 hours depending on the feedback they get through the beta.

They also wanted to stress that the Edge of the Mists will be available throughout the day. One of the misconceptions they hear is that the map will only be available for 4 hours out of the day, which is just wrong. After four hours the map will reset, kicking everyone out of all overflow versions just like when the other WvW maps reset once a week. After the reset is complete players can jump back into the Edge of the Mists. So if the map remains at 4 hours per matchup, then Edge of the Mists will have 6 matchups every day (6 matchups X 4 hours = 24 hours).

As for how the map will impact the other WvW maps, the team is definitely not going to have Edge of the Mists impact WvW score. They don’t want any server to get more of an advantage by pushing into Edge of the Mists. They are working on some stuff that should be in the beta soon, but the sense they want to give is a reward for the server every time they win a match on the map.

They also want to give more of a personal reward, where maybe there are rewards only available on Edge of the Mists that you can then go and spend in the other maps. They didn’t give any specifics but wanted to give the general direction they want to take with any impact and rewards from this new map. They also said this stuff is always evolving and that more resources or even good ideas from the community can make new things happen.

Matt "Mattsta" Adams

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