Can someone explain this "-image" thing to me?

I've seen a lot of people talking about how they've "-image'd their .Dat file"...

I just want to know what it does to your file and why people would want to do it

You just need to add -image to the end of your shortcut.

Example:

My Shortcut to GW looks like this:

"C:\Program Files\Guild Wars\Gw.exe"

Just add -image at the end.

"C:\Program Files\Guild Wars\Gw.exe" -image

Then run the game with that shortcut, this will make GW download ALL files that you dont have and will decompress all your files, so when your done you will have short to no loading times.

Oh when your done remove -image from the shortcut or you cant play.

Cheers.

It downloads all the updates so you don't have to wait for updates to load when you zone.

There is no reason not to do it, it won't harm anything.

One thing though...

I'm on a 56K line right now (soon moving to Mbps)

Would it be wise for me to use the image shortcut now and risk having to download a Gig?

Well i would do it, but would probably take you a long time to download.

The way i see it:

If you plan to play PVP for the preview event, Dont do it just download the files on their own.

If you dont care about the preview event, Do it. But leave it downloading overnight (While you sleep).

Cheers.