A number of development changes are being planned for the upcoming sequel Guild Wars 2, according to the dev blog on the ArenaNet official website. One of the first mechanics addressed concerns what happens when your character is ”Downed or Defeated.”

When your hit points drop to zero, you will be in a ”Downed” mode and will be limited to four skills that can be used to help you get back on your feet. Kill your foe with these skills before the Downed bar depletes, and you’ll be returned to your former state. Fail to kill the enemy during that limited period and you’ll be Defeated; that’s death in MMO terms. Being Defeated will damage your armor, and over time, it’ll cost you to repair it.

The developers are also working to make exploration a much cooler feature than in most MMOs by including Hidden Treasures around the various types of landscapes. Finally, they’re working on how Boons and Conditions will affect playable characters. Boons are the buffs and shields you can have, while Conditions are bad things like Poisons, Bleed effects, Slows and Snares.

All in all, the game is shaping up to be very interesting, and many players are looking forward to the open beta events to begin in March.