15 Sep 2006 at 00:28 - 12
Ever since I moved from my last residence, I've had no choice but dial up. Did I quit GW? Heck no. The key is to save/backup those gw.dat files. Once you download it, you don't want to do it again. XD
Whenever there's a new patch out, for instance the recent Nightfall update, leave it on like someone else said. For the major updates, it could be a couple hours, like it was for me this morning.
Load times: If you've already been in an area, they are not ANY slower than on broadband. This depends entirely on how fast your computer is. I often load faster than people with an OCXX connection.
Graphics: The same goes for graphics. My brother plays with dial up as well, we run all settings max, 1240*1280, 4x AA, and 1600*1200, 4x AA, all setting max.
Lag: Yes, there can be spikes of lag that you will hate. I often seem to find them at the moment of a crucial infuse or in front of a mob of trolls when I'm trying to run. This is part of dial up life.
As for the average lag, it is barely, if at all, higher than broadband. I have no trouble playing an infuser or interrupter. My favorite build for mesmer is fast cast protection - yes, I can make use of that 1/8 second cast time.
Just leave the game on overnight when you can, eventually you'll have no load times for any map. (2.64gbs at this point in time)