In a new dev blog post from Guild Wars 2's Jim Boer, the team highlights some of their trials and tribulations with bringing cinematic conversations to players. Specifically, Jim notes that the team was working with some fairly lengthy criteria: cinematic conversations needed to be "reasonably fast and easy for designers to create," while also offering opportunities for players to direct the conversation while still feeling engaged with the events at hand.

One thing that particularly impressed me was the idea that ArenaNet would create a "painted over" cinematic scene that frames the characters. This gives a more "private" feel to the conversation and since they don't have to render the world during those scenes, they can ensure that these conversations will be as smooth as possible. Looking good, Guild Wars 2!