Guild Wars vs. World of Warcraft

Makaelthos Solcry

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jun 2006

The Demon Hunters Clan

N/R

This is different from all other threads .I am a person who has actually played both games and hence i can make a fair and well -called for decision .Before actually saying much ,I'd like to make a point based comparisn .

Guild Wars World of Warcraft
Gameplay 9 7
Graphics 10 7
Storyline 8.5 5
Diversity & Versatility 7.5 8.5
Replay value 9 5
Originality 9 7
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53 39.5
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I have played guild wars for roughly 1 year, finished both storylines, created four level 20 characters, got awesome equipment for all of them ,Pvp'd a lot and I STILL find it fun as hell to just go around and farm with my characters .

I have played World of Warcraft for 13 days, made 2 level 21~ish characters of the same race ,and have somehow gotten bored as hell to continue playing it .It was actually disappointing to get bored of a game for which i had such high expectations .

Graphics -Guild Wars is the most beautiful game I have ever played .It is extremely realistic ,and delivers a VERY life-like scape of the gigantic world .
World of Warcraft's graphics are okay...but I find them cartoonish ,very unrealistic and unoriginal .The game's graphics are JUST GOOD ENOUGH to make this game bareable to play .There are no breathtaking sceneries such as the renowned guild wars' world ,and even though i have a very good graphics card, i sometimes get problems .

Gameplay- The guild wars general control system is much more convenient ,and well-designed .the world of warcraft system aint THAT bad, but it's certainly worse than the guild wars system ,especially when playing with melee classes .Now comes the intensity .Guild Wars OWNS World of Warcraft on this one .the 8 skill set balance might seem like a drag ,but its truly a portal for mass strategy and balanced gameplay .Speaking of balance, a specific class is totally overpowered than all the others is WoW .Although restricted ,Guild Wars turns out to be a very solid game in terms of intensity .There are various strategic group build formations ,a factor which is very absent in WoW . both are skill games .In guild wars ,there is morale ,diverse enchantments, degens, buffs etc ,whjereas WoW has a dwarfed version of this .Lastly, WoW is a very repititive game .

Storyline - Owned again ,WoW .The whole story system itself in WoW has a VERY weak infrastructure ,you're given quests from random NPC's that you don't even know exist ,and when you do find them ,only a bunch of boring ,often sueless words are written that are supposedly the 'lore' .Forget the infrastructure ,the lore is very very weak as well !!! In every single race its just 'x group is thretening us ,so is y group ;go kill ,rest ,rinse ,repeat' .In guild wars ,it is So different !there is a very specific ,and mostly very epic and interesting storyline that is very eminent ! While there are 'sub-lore' quests, there are missions that are mostly necessary to follow !You have a very clear idea of your position in the story and what exactly is going on !Thre is a wide variety of objectives in each mission, be it escaping from a cult of demolishers, or contruction of a vision sphere to gain the audience of the gods .

Diversity and versatility -Guild wars, although it may be excellent ,is a very linear game .Ascending often mandates completeion of certain ,pre-determined goals .There is not much to do other than combat .Bad trade system and bad communication system in general .In WoW ,this is somewhat different .The trade system is MUCH better ,with the auction house, mail deliveries ,COD and more .Although other than that ,the communication system is pretty much the same as guild wars .WoW is not linear at all .I mean AT ALL ,you comopletely choose your own path ,be it questing or simply grinding or becoming specialised in a certain profession of whatever !All areas are available for easy exploration and there is decent diversity in terms of landscapes .There are numerous different professions ,There are 8 different classes amd 8(soon 10) different races to choose from .There are mounts, flying mounts and pets&demons as well .It is versatile,although none of these elements are particularly well -designed .

Replay Value -As i said in my first few sentences, Guild Wars still entertains me after 1 whole year of playing and completing everything ,whereas WoW got me bored within days...although maybe this is just me ...

Originality - WoW has the environment of Warhammer ,the adventure and death system of everquest, the races of numerous other games ,and has heavily borrowed from othwer games on many other aspects .Guild Wars has a unique environment ,its combat ,adventure and death system is completely new ,it has only one race (that's kinda new, although not really too bad at all) and almost everything has been made from scratch .All in all ,Guild Wars is much MUCH more original than WoW.

Thus i conclude by jugding Guild Wars a better game than WoW on many levels .Maybe it was just my difference from the rest when i got bored of the game ,and maybe i have different opinions, but I am telling you now, if you have to choose which game to play ,let it be Guild Wars, belive me it's better.

P.S. just in case you wanted to know, i played Guild Wars first .

DarthGreg

DarthGreg

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Sep 2005

LLJK

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Makaelthos Solcry
I have played World of Warcraft for 13 days, made 2 level 21~ish characters of the same race ,and have somehow gotten bored as hell to continue playing it .It was actually disappointing to get bored of a game for which i had such high expectations .
Sorry but that doesn't qualify you to pass any kind of judgement on the game. If only I had more experience with GW I could utterly throw down this argument, but suffice it to say that WoW doesn't really begin until you hit level 60 and join a raiding guild. Of the over 2500 hours I logged on my Orc Warrior in the last year, 2250 of those have been at 60. While you don't need that many hours to understand the state of the WoW endgame, you sure as hell need more than 2 toons that havn't even ventured into contested territory.

led-zep

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Nov 2005

you cant really make an informed comparison after only 13 days, you'd probably be saying the opposite if you played wow for a year then played gw for 13 days.

pharaos

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Apr 2006

N/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by DarthGreg
Sorry but that doesn't qualify you to pass any kind of judgement on the game. If only I had more experience with GW I could utterly throw down this argument, but suffice it to say that WoW doesn't really begin until you hit level 60 and join a raiding guild. Of the over 2500 hours I logged on my Orc Warrior in the last year, 2250 of those have been at 60. While you don't need that many hours to understand the state of the WoW endgame, you sure as hell need more than 2 toons that havn't even ventured into contested territory.

/agreed

Yanman.be

Yanman.be

Banned

Join Date: Dec 2005

Belgium

[ROSE]

A/

Might as well compare Solitaire and BF2. ( not that GW or WoW is solitaire in that comparison )

One Swordsman

One Swordsman

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Nov 2005

Luton, UK

Gameamp Guides [AMP]

Comparing WoW and GW is like comparing apples and oranges, they are so different from each other it's a matter of preference and mood.

Guild Wars is more of a fast-paced pick up and play experience, PvE is fun and inviting however it is often linear lacks depth, PvP is brilliant-nuff said there. The skill based system in Guild Wars requires you to think which is a positive point and keeps the game interesting.

WoW on the other-hand requires ALOT of time invested but has alot of depth, customization and is less linear than GW, it also feels more epic IMO (tougher bosses and some huge dungeons) but again this needs alot of time invested, PvP is really broken though (although world PvP and dueling can be fun but the potential isn't really unleashed yet). Also the lack of skill customization usually sees you spamming the same skills over and over. Also levelling really blows.

I personally have a 60 Human Warrior and a 60 Gnome mage on EU-Nordrassil and have had a good long experience with WoW, I have also been playing Guild Wars since just after prophecies release. So I have a fair bit of experience with both.

However posting this arguement on a Guild Wars website is just plain stupid, fanboyism will prevail i'm afraid to say.

Minus Sign

Minus Sign

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Feb 2006

Mo/N

@ OP: Uh huh...who are you again?

edited for clearity

Yanman.be

Yanman.be

Banned

Join Date: Dec 2005

Belgium

[ROSE]

A/

Delete it by editing in advance posting.

One Swordsman

One Swordsman

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Nov 2005

Luton, UK

Gameamp Guides [AMP]

Quote:
Delete it by editing in advance posting.
Got it thanks

Sekkira

Sekkira

Forge Runner

Join Date: Apr 2005

Canberra, AU

On one hand you can't really compare a game you've played for 13 days to one you've played for a year.

On the other hand, you can due to one keeping your attention for a year and the other loosing your intrest within a fortnight.

Minus Sign

Minus Sign

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Feb 2006

Mo/N

removed; no longer applies except

Off-Topic to all of interest: Welcome to the forums. So you know, you can remove doubleposts yourelf by clicking the edit tab at the bottom and choosing the delete funtion. A nice feature to have when the site is lagging.

EDIT2: you're welcome

Agyar

Agyar

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jul 2006

AUSSIE TROLLING CREW - CAPSLOCK CONSULTANT

[Dong]

Mo/

A terrible comparison between the two games.

Everyone else has basically hammered this home, different game entirely and your experience playing it, if we can even call getting to level 21 and played for less than a fortnight an 'experience' for such a huge game, is minimal at best.

Your badly formulated logic and review both suggest you should probably stay away from this kind of judgement, at least until you've put your (obviously) vested interest aside.

Anyone on these forums who has an interest in the differences between WoW and GW has probably already sourced that information out or would find themselves suitably aided should they enquire. The only possible reasoning I could see for making a thread like this would be as a guide for those people in that catergory.

If you are just seeking to flex your GW muscles and reassure yourself you are in fact playing the superior game, you may find some support here but I doubt it will really mean anything.

My advice to you is this, if you have already decided you don't like WoW, then stop playing it. If a game that takes many months of invested time and energy to reach the maximum level and beyond isn't for you, then yes, GW is a better game for you. Context is everything in comparisons like this, and it is context which your analysis lacks. Making fanboy threads to puff your chest or rustle the feathers of those who would not agree probably isn't the best way to approach interaction on a forum.

One Swordsman

One Swordsman

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Nov 2005

Luton, UK

Gameamp Guides [AMP]

Ok, I edited my post didn't realise.

Thanks for welcoming me, and that self delete button is a good feature

Madame_Recamier

Madame_Recamier

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Aug 2006

N/Mo

I've played WoW for just over 18 months. I bought it within a month of release and have 3 lvl 60s. I've only been playing guildwars for about a month though.

So far, the big negateive that GW has is the fact that you can't jump off cliffs and what not. The actual feel of the game play in WoW is better. In fact, after trying out various MMOs, I'm pretty convinced that this is the reason WoW is so popular. Even though the graphics are lousy, you don't feel like your character is floating above the ground when running. Stuff like that is subtle, but it can through the whole game off.

In all other respects, WoW is ether Mah, or subpar. It's funny that people rave about WoW's PvE because it is simply abysmal(like my spelling!). It's not a sandbox world like UO was, and it doesn't have a story line. You get some mini-story lines that never really go anywhere, and all of a sudden........


You are lvl60, and it's a good thing you read the boards because you'd never have found Duke Hydraxis otherwise and like the rest of the WoW endgame, you only know to go there because you saw it in the patch notes. GW even has better PvE because the missions lead to one another and hey, the cut sceenes give you the story. It's not great, but it's better then, "Go kill the quartermaster, touch some orb, kill stuff in BWL for phat lewtz" because that is WoW's idea of PvE content.

Oh...the other thing cool about WoW is that you can light people on fire if you play a warlock. It's seriously the best part of the game.It's tough to top lighting people up as a high point.

So I would say GW has better PvP and PvE then WoW, but WoW has the ability to jump off cliffs and light people on fire, both of which are often overlooked features in other games.

As a side note: Once you hit 60, wow has no diversity. Everyone has the same one or two talent builds and wears the same one or two armor sets. Unlike GW, you simply do not have the range of skills needed to come up with anything even close to unique.

It's sad really, because the quest in sivlerpine where you have to chop off that guy's hands and bring them back to the undercity is really cool.

Savio

Savio

Teenager with attitude

Join Date: Jul 2005

Fifteen Over Fifty [Rare]

We're not going to have yet *another* GW vs WoW thread. It gets really old. Closed.