Guild Wars 2 Interview

Guild Wars 2 Guru had the opportunity to quiz ArenaNet's Eric Flannum, Isaiah Cartwright, and Ryan Scott about how certain gameplay aspects will work in the subscription-free MMORPG sequel. A snip:
GW2Guru: It's been implied that there may not be a '˜dedicated healer' class in the game. Is that a role that some classes will excel at filling, or will that form of defense be spread across a team?

Isaiah Cartwright Game Designer: Healing in GW2 is different from most other MMO's. One of our goals is that you should always be happy to see other players and this shouldn't change based on their profession, race, skill choices, or anything else. Which means each player needs to be slightly more self sufficient so that one particular profession is not required to do any given type of content. It's why we made the healing slot a required part of the skill bar. It allows us to make the heal skill powerful enough so players can take care of themselves. There will still be ways to support your allies and some professions will specialize in support but no single profession is always required.