First RPG

Hey, Im new to these types of games. Im not a complete noob when it comes to gaming, but please bear with me.

I played the beta for the very first GW. I think it was a 14 day trial, but a few years back. I liked the game a lot. I just never got around to buyin it. The hole subscription thing turned me away. Why play something that you always have to pay for. Well I was wrong, I just never looked into it enough. Yes call me stupid(dont really it kinda hurts). I regret never looking into it further. Now there are 3 games called Guild Wars (GW, GWF, GWN(not released)). Now I want to buy the game, I know each game is a stand alone game. So I am able to buy any of the three.

Where should I start out?...#1, #2, or wait for #3

I kinda only want to purchase 1 copy. I dont want to spend $150 in 1 month.

Here is what I would like in 1 of the three games.
*Lots of people
*Teamwork
*Enough gameplay to keep me busy for 2 or 3 months or more(with out getting extremely bored)
*Graphics/Sound
*Huge Teamwork Areas(like with 20 or so people running around killing lots of stuff)
*Action around every corner(NOT running for an hour and nothin in site)

Thanks

I started with the first Prophecies.
Although I have Factions, and have just preordered Nighfall.
Somehow it just is my favourite.
I love those wide open spaces in the game,theres desert, snow, jungle, its all there.
You also get more character slots as well, as with Factions you get 2, but you can buy extra slots if you want.

In Prophecies you start in what they call pre-searing.
This is like a training area to get you used to the game, but it is quite large.
Once you reach a certain level say 7 or 8, you leave this lovely land behind for good, then the story starts.

There are henchmen "NPC`s" you can have in your party, these are availble in all towns.
Most not all towns have missions for you to do, and you can team up with other people who want to do the same mission, so the choice is yours.
There is loads of gameplay there to keep you busy for a very long time, and if you get fed up with one character, you can always make another.

Graphics are gorgous in all the games, and sometimes its jawdropping, waterfalls, lakes, etc.
The good thing is it will run on a fairly low spec pc as well, and you dont need a massive connection speed either.

In Factions you start on an island to do your training, and you level quicker than in Prophecies, once you leave the island you go to the mainland, and your story unfolds in this massive city.

Factions is good dont get me wrong, battles are slightly harder, but I still say you should go with Prophecies.
After all thats where it all started ,they are all tied together.
Thing is if you buy Factions you wont be able to play prophecies, and vice versa.
All I can say is you dont know what you have missed, but enjoy its a great game.

I suggest Guild Wars Nightfall. The main reason is for the population. A majority of the players will probably get Nightfall, and therefore a majority of the Guild Wars population will be in the continent that Nightfall takes place on. It will be much easier to get groups this way and you will have an easier time grouping as a low level since lots of people will be making new characters. You'll kind of be on the same boat so to say.

The downfalls though would be that Nightfall isn't released yet and so we don't know everything about it. From what many of us experienced from the preview weekend of it, it was quite enjoyable and definately high-quality for Guild Wars. Most likely the release will be the same. Also the storyline may not fully make sense if you don't have Prophecies or Factions, but again we can't be sure since it hasn't been released yet. It is a stand alone game and so I would hope that it is easy to understand for newcomers as much as it is for people that have been playing since Prophecies' release.

I suggest Nightfall. Most players will be hanging around there, and you'll get the best experience of working in groups. Buying prophecies or factions will leave you alone for the first few months after Nightfall. They're all fun games, as far as content goes, so just go with the mob.

Personally I think you should start with the original Prophecies campaign and work your way from there, but in order to meet all of your demands ...um, preferences, I'd agree with Kha and Dr Strangelove.
Wait for Nightfall to go live 'cause it's going to go off like a frog in a sock.

For Lots of People, I'd give the nod to Nightfall, people will be flocking to it. factions will become a mass of ghost-towns when Nightfall comes out. Prophecies will still have people running around in it, but not as many.

For Teamwork, you can get that in any of the 3. Player vs. Player modes are available in all of them. Depending on which mode you play, you can have 4-, 6-, or 8-person teams. The ncie thing GW did was make the PvP area universal to all Chapters, so even if you don't have factions, say - you can still run up against assassins and ritualists*.

Enough gameplay to keep you from getting bored: NOT factions! It's the smallest of the 3 as far as PvE goes, and lots of people complained that it was too short. (of course, many of those people were the ones who raced through it on the first weekend.)

Graphics/Sound: Any of the 3

Huge Teamwork areas: Gotta give a (slight) nod to factions on this one. In factions, there are elite missions that use 12-person teams in a PvE environment, and Alliance Battles are 12vs12 PvP matches (actually it's 3 luxon teams of 4 against 3 Kurzick teams of 4). But in all three you have the option to go solo or go with a group of up to 8 people. For newbies, teamwork is important in getting through missions/quests - even if it is just with henchmen.

Action around every corner: Both Prophecies and factions have lots of stuff to fight. In the high-end parts of the game, you won't be at a loss for challenges. Can't say what Nightfall's high-end areas will be like, but I'm betting there will be plenty of challenges involved!

*Something else to consider: The 6 core Professions (Warrior, Monk, Elementalist, Mesmer, Necromancer, and Ranger) are available in each chapter. Assassins & Ritualists are only available in factions, while Paragons and Dervishes are only available in Nightfall.

I'd say if you are more into PvE then get nightfall, and if you are more into pvp get factions. Only get prophecies if you get really into the game and want to have all the skills for pvp or just really want to try it out.

It should be mentioned that in the beginning areas of the games, there is a bunch of running around without much fighting needed. There are things to kill, but many of them won't attack you unless you attack them first.

Hmm...

After reading your comments I went and read some forums on Nightfall.

Story Lines are great, I like the MGS series, and Hitman series, but when it comes to these types of games I could really care less(I played SWG).

Instead I like to get in a large group and attack monstorus beasts, and know I will probably die. Im more of a run and gun guy.
Nightfall will have more players true.
Only thing is its not out but I can wait a bit.

I dont exactly understand the whole controling more than one charactar than just the one. Is it like Star Wars Nights of the Old Republic but online? Cuase that would turn me away from the game right now.

Thanks for all the comments so far

Using Henchmen / Heroes is strictly optional. With Henchmen, they're pre-made with specific skill sets and all they really do is attack whatever you attack & run with you when you break off an attack.

Heros (ony avail with Nightfall) are a bit more involved. You set up their skills and attributes, give them weapons & armor upgrades (RUNES), and can have as much or as little control over them as you want. You can use them like henchmen, or you can direct them where to go (which is very easy to do, and quite useful), or you can even cast their spells for them - if you want to. Or you can skip them altogether and play with real people.

Having come from KOTOR and KOTOR II, the Hero system can be compared to the system used in KOTOR. You can equip them and set skills, and they follow you around. However, you don't have to use Heroes. There are regular Henchmen available that are run entirely by the computer. So, it's not forced on you, it's just there if you want to use it.

I'd suggest getting Prophecies. It was a GREAT game, especially for PvE and there are still plenty of people playing it. Factions is fun, but in my experience a lot of people who start out with factions suck at PvE because you can get to lvl 20 without having any experience basically.

get Nightfall and play it while its hot... and then when you think u've done everything there is to do in Nightfall buy Prophecies and hero ur way thru.

Go for nightfall.. hardly anyone will be playing prophecies Once nightfall comes out most will be to busy playing that,to come back to prophecies. Even now i see that in Prophecies towards the end of the game its hard to gather a good group.

However, each GW title has its own set of elite skills to capture. Plus unique items to get, ones you'd otherwise have to buy or trade from someone. If I was in this situation, I'd get Prophecies first(besides, the Halloween event will be in Prophecies!). Then Factions, then Nightfall. That way I'd experience GW like most gamers do.

Like others said, its about 2 or so weeks untill Nightfall is out.
But make sure that you get prophecies. Its a nice game and you get to exprience the story of it since its tied to Nightfall.

You can skip Factions for now (you are not missing much) and pick it up when its like $9 or so if you want.

I dont think Factions will ever be $9. Prophecies is $49.99 and Factions is $49.83, imagine that....