Which Guild Wars is best for a newb?

I'll be new to the Guild Wars game, and I'm wondering, of the three versions, which will be best for a new player? I did play WoW for over a year (but no longer), so I do have some experience with MMORPGs.

Any suggestions?

Either Prophecies or Nightfall. You can look at both of them, and pick which one you think looks better. They're both excellent.

Prophecies is the traditional fantasy world. It has the standard ruins, mountains, desert, jungle, and so on. The missions are more linear than those in Factions and Nightfall, but there are more of them than in any other campaign. The main reason people go with Prophecies first is the skills. As it was out for a full year before Factions, the Prophecies skills have become the 'norm'. Most builds you will see use Prophecies skills and items. The learning curve for Prophecies is very gentle, probably being the best one to introduce you into the game.

Nightfall is the 'latest' thing, and is generally the most populated. The story is definately the strongest of the three, and not everything is completely linear. The game features 20 missions, 3 challenge missions (Sorta like extra things. I suck at explaining), and 1 elite area. Again, because it's the latest, there are a lot of Nightfall skills and items in use. The Heros, a Nightfall only feature, are very nice if you intend to solo or work in small groups through most of the game.

Factions, while not bad when added to the other Guild Wars, isn't really the best stand-alone game. It has the least population currently, and it's skills are probably the least used. The learning curve is very steep, with the 'newbie island' only lasting a couple of hours. The story is quite short, and Cantha is the smallest of the 3 areas.

Read this if you haven't already http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10102502

In my opinion the original (Prophecies) is most newbie-friendly.
Nightfall would be a close second, but hero managment makes it a bit more complicated in some ways.
Factions is most definatly the least newbie-friendly of the three.

I guess it really depends on what you're looking for, if you want to learn the game basics and build from there, get Prophecies. If you want to jump in where most players are hanging out these days choose Nightfall, and if you're into self punishment start with Factions.

Prophecies without a doubt

You'll have a tougher time getting into groups in prophecies, mainly beacuse there isn't a lot of people around some of the missions there anymore, But i still would suggest prophecies.

I'd say Proph by far, however if I were to play the games through, I'd start with NF, so you can have your heroes follow you across all the games (as it is, they only follow you after you obtain then from NF)

Like others have said, Prophecies has the easiest learning curve. You really don't need to be very good until you reach the dessert, and even then it is only marginally harder.

Proph or Nightfall. Proph gives you a good understanding of playing the game, while NF is just plain fun

I don't find this to be true.

I have recently leveled up 3 chars in Prophecies and haven't faced any lack of other players. Additionally, Pre-Searing is a really bustling place and a good place to make friends that you continue through the game with.

I also would like to suggest Profecies. The learning curve in that chapter is not to highh and it allows you to hone a few skills to get to know how the play mechanics work without pitting you up against impossible odds. And I love Pre-Searing due to the fact that the only players that stick around for a long time in there are: 1 Players going for "Legendary Defender of Ascalon" 2 new players or 3 players who are recruiting for their guild. There a re a couple others in there but they are far outnumbered. I feel Profecies is the most fun in tha the missions and quests give you a feel of accomplishment, not just exp.

Mega Mouse

Hmm, I see most people saying Prophecies.

After starting my first ever character in Cantha...and some others in Elona I decided to start a character in Tyria. DEAR GOD it's boring!! I mean, Pre-Searing was pretty and all but I don't see how people can put up with going from Pre to Post Searing....it's disgusting. Also for me Prophecies seems SOOOO slow. Until recently I would have said Factions as the levelling up is quicker...but having played Nightfall...I would say Nightfall. Although I'm not a fan of Istan itself I think it has the best balance between levelling and monster level...as well as it has FAR nicer scenery than Post Searing Ascalon (yes, even Kourna with it's dirty red sand)... The ONLY positive point I can see in starting in Tyria is that it's SO slow you HAVE to try new builds and play around more to make it more interesting. Sufficed to say, I'll not be starting in Tyria again!!

I have a friend who is trying out NF through my buddy key and he is struggling becasue he is not real familiar with the game play...if you are like that, pick prophecies...if you know alot about MMORPG or have expereince with that, pick night fall

Quoted for truth. I have experienced the same thing.
Without a doubt I would reccomend Prophecies. The whole Pre-Searing section is one fo the best intros to a game I have ever been into. Its awesome.
While Nightfall is great as well, I really think you should start with Proph, then when you get NF youll have a skill set developed, and the heroes will be a lot easier to get skills for.
I just think at first you should just concentrate on your character and not on getting good armor and weapons for 5 or 6 others(your Heroes). That alone can be a daunting task for a newcomer to the game, and is much easier to accomplish, if you know its going to happen, and can prepare for it, ie: save good weapons you get, save up a bunch of money. And the biggest one, try a bunch of different characters in Prophecies, and try to level them up to like lvl 10-20, dont get too attached, these are character for opening skills, try to at least try all the classes, to really see what you like to play and what fits your playstyle best.
Doing this will give you a great SKILL BASE to draw upon, you will use these skills for the rest of your GuildWars 'career' so to speak. After all this game dont mean much if you havent got access to the skills.
Plus endgame Nightfall is a GHOSTTOWN(very sad but true). There is nobody in the last missions, so you have to be good enough to get thru them with Heroes and Henches.
Start with Prophecies, you'll be better player in the long run.

Grais, you don't get armour for heroes... They auto level on armour aswell...

And weapons for them? easy aswell as plenty of weapons drop and Nightfall offers you two free gold weapons on the starter island to get you started and thats per character, so 3 characters = 6 gold weapons on the starter island

The reason the Nightfall endgame areas are a "Ghosttown" (which isn't true anyway) is because you have to actually be able to play the game to get past the levels as they ramp up the dificulty, but a good guild and team work will get you through all of them on the 2nd try at most

FFS, stop doom mongering the games will you guys

@Kuldebar Valiturus: PM me in game if you need help, i'll help you through anything you need to do

Prophecies - easy, but very slow. Long missions, that are usually only tough at the end, which can be very frustrating. Good range of armour styles, but the weapon drops are awful - my ranger has finished this chapter and is still only using bows from Factions and Nightfall. Chest keys for this chapter are more worthless than any other.

Factions - fun, but sudden increase in difficulty once you reach the city. Probably not so bad with Heroes, though. Some nice weapon drops from mid-way into the game and the Kurzick forest is just beautiful. This has remained my favourite chapter, whatever others say.

Nightfall - Adds heroes - they make a *lot* of difference to every chapter, so if you're going to buy just one first, it should be this one. Weapon drops seem a bit limited (how many ornate scythes do they think my Dervish needs?), but you do get plenty of max damage and decent mods from mid-way into the game and the "treasures" are a nice touch (Prophecies had something similar, but they got rid of it).

All in my experience, of course.