Which should I start with? GW or GWF

I am interested in moving over from CoH to GW. Which game should I start with? Any and all insight would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Mac

The new chapter comes out in a couple weeks, so if you can wait till then, I would wait for Nightfall.

If the RPG aspect of the game appeals to you, I'd get GW. If you want a cut-to-the-chase gaming experience, I'd get Factions.

Wait for nightfall or get prophecies. If you want to level up fast, finish the game in 1 day and deal with loads of lag and "idiots" buy factions.

for serious RPG gaming i would start of with prophecies (the GW you talk about) for fast paced action flying trough a game i would get factions (GWF) but 27 october Guildwars nightfall (GWNF) will be out and i think allot of people will move on to there. but as far i can see GWP will have most of the times people in it factions will die out soon and GWNF will be hoarded with people when it comes out.

its all a matter of taste but in the end? get all 3 of them

I'd also recommend starting with Prophecies for the better learning curve, more content, good set of starting skills, and good end game content. Once you decide that you like it you can look at adding Factions, Nightfall or both.

Don't buy any used games as you can get scammed out of it, the original owner can reclaim them.

GW (aka Prophecies). Much friendlier to new players. The learning curve is not nearly as steep as in factions. It's set up to where you can actually take the time and experiment with builds and getting to learn the ins and outs of playing your profession. In factions, you're tossed from the frying pan into the fire.

If you want to wait a few weeks, Nightfall is coming out. It seems to be set up similar to Prophecies in the learning curve. The preview weekend they jsut had covered the beginning area of the game, and if the rest of the game is as well made as that, then it's going to be a lot of fun! I can see factions becoming a ghost town after it's released.

Start with the original GW and that should keep you plenty busy untill Nightfall comes out.

I wouldn't bother with Factions at all unless you're REALLY into PvP-it's a total waste of money from a PvE perspective. Just my humble opinion, of course.

More good advice: find yourself a good guild home so you have people to play with and help you learn the game.

I'm not sure where you are at but look WPG up if interested.

If you start with Prophecies and move onto one or both of the others, I think you will get the best learning curve of Guild Wars available.

If I had to start over now, then I would considor them in this order:

Prophecies ("Normal", Chapter 1) - I would learn the game mechanics and basic skill knowledge here
Factions (Chapter 2) - After Prophecies I'd try my hand at fast gameplay and less of a PVE based environment
Nightfall (Chapter 3) - If I didn't like Factions I'd go onto Nightfall instead. If I liked Factions, I'd move onto Nightfall after Factions.

Lag isn't chapter specific.

My own recommendation would be to wait for Nightfall at this point. If you start one of the other games right now, you'll probably only get partway through before everyone flocks to Nightfall at the end of the month. If you start Nightfall around the same time that everyone else does, you can learn the game while there's a whole lot of other people to do missions/quests with, and there should be a lot more buzz/activity in the game in general.

Although you really can't go wrong with any of the games, IMO.

(slight rant following)

The only problem I had with Factions is said idiots - the idiots just sit around and complain constantly, and it makes actually getting through the game kind of rough sometimes. If everyone took a little bit more of a positive attitude, and did a little less "but waah!! cry, I don't like that!" I think people would have a lot more fun. I tried to stick to non-bitchy groups, guildies, and hench, and I thought Factions was a blast. All the people running around yelling "omg I will ragequit if you don't skip the cutscene!" gets old after a while. If you've got a thick skin and can deal with impatient people intent on ruining everyone else's fun at every turn...

End of rant; I don't want to discourage people from Factions, because Factions was highly, highly enjoyable for me. It's some of the other players that make me sad because they're really the ones that mess it up for everyone else.

I played COH during a trail version i didnt like the game much but i did get a feeling of what it is like,somehow i think you would like factions more if i had to choose between GWP and GWF.( not counting Nightfall in this as its not out yet)

But McCaffrey would you be so kind to post what kind of things you liked in COH or simply what things you like in general ( gamingwise) That way we can give you a advise that is more accurate.

if you really want the best gw experience get prophecies. prophecies is a lot more challenging and you play with your character for a long amount of time unlike factions where you level very quickly and breeze through all of the missions. the thing i hated about factions was that i had to buy basically all of my skills for my ranger, unlike i would have had to do for many of the skills in prophecies. also, prophecies has many of the skills you will need to have certain builds for farming or doing pvp which you can't get in factions.

If I were you, I would wait for Nightfall and get that (it comes out Oct. 27). But if you really want to play it before then, then I would say Prophecies for the simple fact that it gives you a lot of time to learn to play. Once you have played through, at least to Lion's Arch, then you should probably go get Factions.

Factions was an awsome game and at least 10 times better than Prophecies for me. I hardly ever go to prophecies now of days because I can't find much to do, but Factions on the other hand still has plenty for me to do.

In the end, I would say get Prophecies, Factions, and Nightfall just because Prophecies teaches you, Factions is an awsome game, and Nightfall seems like it is going to be better than both.

And in case you are wondering, I spend about 90% to 99% of my time doing pve, and the rest doing pvp.

Also, if you just want to do pvp, then you could probably just get one of the chapters and be happy.

Nightfall seems to me to be another type of expansion like Factions. fast and more people complaining about why no one will help them.

i'm going to be a little wary of Nightfall because of the stuff ANet is changing.
also, running into the factions "ragequitters" once again would be unplesant
-.-

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts. My play style, is more RPG based. I really am not a PvP player, but have from time to time. I like stories, playing at a enjoyable pace, and being able to play when I can. As a father of two girls two and under, my time is limited. I hate seeing my CoX money go to waste not being used. I think GW will be the way to go.

From what I am reading I can't tell if NF will be more like Prophecies or Factions. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks again. Now I have to decide if I wait or go with Prophecies.