hi, is this game good for casual player

hello, me and my girlfriend have been looking for a game to play since we left WoW, sick of the endless gear grind after we capped lvls we just gave up as we had a new baby and just couldnt invest the time anymore to compete in pvp

i got diablo 2 today but after 30 minutes of playing it i wanted to stab out my eyes from the graphics..i also saw 3 of these games at walmart and after researching a lil it seems like an ok game, but i am ignorant besides several reviews i'v read on gaming sites.

how would it be for 2 casual players who dont have the time to grind endlessly, i know you start at cap for pvp purposes, but i have read mixed things about having to grind for unlocks etc

is it alot of waiting around for groups in pve? or could we do enough stuff ourselves to get things done?

is it an elitest community? or are things rather friendly?

which of the 3 should we buy, the first one got the highest reviews, each realease after had dropped in score?

can your toons from pve portion be used in pvp?

is it just random battles in a pvp que, or do you get to know the people your fighting with and against? i know there are guilds but we probably wouldnt wanna be caught up in that just yet

and lastly can we get on for a couple hours and accomplish something? i never wanna do anything resembling MC, UBRS, BWL etc from WoW, nor the faceless anonymous battlegrounds from that game


thanks very much for any replies

It is pretty good for casual play.

Your starting PVP characters will be at a disadvantage because of lack of skill unlocks. You can buy full PvP skill unlocks if you are mostly interested in PvP. Most of the PvP is your team randomly matched with other teams.

The PvP community does have a reputation for being elitist towards PvE players...
I dont think its a significant factor as long as you can handle being called a noob because you dont know the game lingo. (reading the PvP primers and threads here to acclimate is a good idea)

It is common for PvE characters to be used for PvP.

The PvE grind is alot less than most other games since the level cap is 20. You get that high just out of the starter areas in both factions and Nighfall. Also you can get near max equipment very inexpensively from collectors, as long as you wont be picky about how good it looks. An experienced guild can help you alot with equipment and advice on both skills and tactics (or direct help even if you want it).

The game is very soloable (they provide henchmen, and also heroes if you have Nightfall). If you will be on at least once a week, there are lots of casual guilds that would be happy to have you (including my own) so you have access to experienced advice/help.

A couple hours should let you get a couple quests and/or a mission done.

I would recommend Nightfall for casual PvE players since you get access to heroes and it has the best balance of storyline and rapid character development.

this game is great for casual gamers.

i work full time and have children. i usually play about 5-8 hrs a week.

you dont have to wait around a long time for PvE b/c u have henchmen and/or heroes (heroes are only available in nightfall).

ass with any community you have nice ppl then u have assholes.

i found all 3 games had things i loved and things i hated. just pick one, u wont be disappointed.

yes, PvE toons can be used for PvP. i have found it much easier though to have both PvE and PvP toons.

there are several types of PvP to play. they have random arenas, team arenas, 4v4, 8v8, 12v12. i dont usually get to know the other players well, but that is just me.

i can accomplish most tasks (the ones that i want to do anyways) in about 1hr.

thank you very much for your replies, DnD, pm me if you want to tell me how to get in touch with you in game if you have a nice friendly casual guild, with players on during my play time 9ish am to 1 pm EST

only thing wrong with this game is that theres alot of noobs who will try and trick u, like buy this u need this etc etc if i was you sabutai make sure u always check this site for information, or even www.guildwiki.org, 2 services provided by people who love the game and has virtually everything you can think of, im sure wikis probs got a post somewhere on choosing the perfect name for your chars

ah here found one lol

http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Rolepla...acter_creation

and here is a getting started guide to help you out, just choose which chapter you brought, i suggest propercies if your begging in guildwars as in my opinion it still offers the best value for money and has alot more to do than the other campaigns

http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Getting_started

its proberley best to start off in PvE as you will unlock items to use on PvP and if both you and your girlfriend will play it seems a better choice, has a great storyline. the only thing that sucks is that the ending of propercies they sail away , cmon what kind of a ending is that lol

Casual PvE play will unlock everything you need for casual play.
I wouldn't say there's much grind at all. If you just play the game, not rush through it, you'll have everything you'll need.

What grind there is, is mostly for vanity items.
Max armour and weapons are cheap to come by either by collectors or crafters. The stuff people grind for are skins. Purely cosmetical things.

Depends.
If you want to do the missions in all human parties. Then yes, it can take a while as sad to say, most play this as a single player game. Especially if you are playing in one of the earlier chapters - proph or factions.

There are henchmen though - AI controlled characters to fill out any empty spots. So you can easily complete the game without ever teaming up with another player, if that's what floats your boat. Or just play it with one or two humans, then the rest hench.
Also if you get Nightfall - you get heroes - henchmen on steriods AI controlled characters you customize and equip yourself.

The community is one of Guildwars biggest downfalls. It is in general eliteist, rude, infintile, spammed to death and beyond, and just plain antisocial.

Should you happen, as a new player to use the local chat to ask a question. Well, presuming anyone notice and it's not drowned out in the spam. Don't be surprised if the response is about 15 people calling you a n00b and other, less palpatable things to stroke their own epeen by degrading other players. Plus maybe, if you're lucky, one that actually answer your question.

That's not to say that there aren't friendly people out there. But on a whole the guildwars community... Ergh! *shudder* Sad to say, I think the friendly ones have just given up and turned their local chat off.

Community in guildwars = your guild in most cases.

Prophecies (the first one) or Nightfall.

Prophecies has a gentler pace, a better tutorial area. But parts of it is pretty deserted.

Nightfall on the other hand, gives you heroes.

Yes

"think the friendly ones have just given up and turned their local chat off."

oh yeah thank god for turning that off now, if it isnt people flaming each other, its trade spam, and if not that u have the bots selling gw gold lol

thanks alot guys, very helpful

i was really hoping the community wouldnt be elitest, but what can you do

i'm used to the chinese gold farmers and general bad behavior from my 2 years of WoW...so i guess i can deal

think i will purchase the newest "chapter" as the heroes aspect appeals to me

how is the actual combat, is it cheese or very action based

There is a sticky at the top of the Q&A forum describing the different chapters.

Main reminder is once your create an account all other chapters must be added to that account through the "add a key" button on your login screen. This will let you take any character through all three chapters.

This is the perfect game for casual players; many gameowners stop playing for months at a time, with no penalties.

You have no monthly fee, no login time requirements, can play at your own pace due to henchmen/heroes, excellent PvP options, extensive PvE, and an excellent resource in guildwiki.org (and this forum site).

You can also buy PvP skill packs that unlock all the skills for a chapter for PvP, thus eliminating a lot of grind right there. I don't believe you can do this for the latest chapter, so if you decide to play a dervish or paragon it won't be of much help, but it's something to work with if you want.

I like the combat; I think it's pretty action based, myself. It's pretty varied based on what/how you play, too. There's a lot of room for different play styles.

I can't speak to PvP, but the majority of the PvE players I've played with were cool people. I tend to watch for a few minutes before joining any group, just to see how people are. I've dealt with a few jerks, but the vast majority of groups I've joined for missions/quests have been pretty good people. And if I don't feel like taking the chance (or am not sure if I have enough time to stay at the computer for the duration of a mission, and I don't want to screw a team with that), there's always heroes and henchmen.

There's also a group of people around here somewhere who get together to PvP, they just figure out what they need in an IRC chat, and then people get set up and go. It might be a way to get experience in that regard.

This game is fabulous for the casual or hardcore player. No pressure to play, and you can often hop on for 20 minutes and do something. Sometimes I hop in and do quests, or try to cram a mission in, or even just go kill stuff for the heck of it.

You can also get a trial key pretty easily; trial DVDs and keys are now sold at most places that sell computer games, for $1.99. It's a 10 hour, 14-day trial, which should be enough to see if you like it.

Finding a good guild with the right times would be great; there's another forum section on here about guilds and a thread about looking for one.

PvE and low level PvP is pretty doable for casual players. Don't hope to get into any top guild or something though. That takes practice, and practice takes time.

Combat itself is very basic: Click on target (or hit space bar) to attack. You will continue to attack that target until you change targets, run away, kill the creature, or it kills you. (Not a clickfest, in otherwords).

BUT, the fun comes in using Skills. You have 8 skills to choose, and how they play off each other (and your teammates/Heros skills) largely decides success or failure.

Clicking the skills (or using the number keys) CAN be frantic, but I find the interface to be one of the best of this genre. In fact, I often play other RPGs and think "why couldn't this be more like Guild Wars?"

Anyway, it's worth checking out, and who knows? Maybe you'll be hooked.

(I too have a child, and can only play 20 min - an hour at a time, which is perfect for this kind of game with NO permanent death penaly, and nice mapping feature where once you go to some town, you can return instantly, whenever you wish).

i was a hardcore pvper for 7 years, it prolly took 5 years off my lifespan, i'm to tired for it anymore, i'll be content with good company and just playing skillfully

i'v found most leet dudes arent that skilled anyway, they just have alot of time to accrue good equipment etc

been watching more movies of this game, it looks stunning, much more realistic than fuzzy cartoony WoW...but i do miss my gnomes laugh echoing through ironforge

Definitely perfect for the casual gamer. As there are no monthly fees, you won't feel like you're wasting your money because you haven't played in a couple of days. Nor will you feel obligated to play.

There's virtually no grind. Level cap is at 20, and you gain most of your exp through quests and missions.

Prophecies is the core game, really, and Factions and Nightfall are separate campaigns with separate stories and NPCs. Because of this they're a bit shorter than Prophecies, but still quite fun. I own every game, and I take all of my characters through each campaign, so it doesn't really get old for me. And also, owning a campaign gives you access to everything it has to offer, armor, weapons, rares, and most importantly skills. Factions and Nightfall also come with separate professions unavailable to the other campaigns. So really, if you can afford it, purchasing each game over time is a good idea and totally worth it in my opinion. I've loved every one of the games released, but Factions is probably my favorite - and Factions has Ritualists, one of the coolest professions.

It's a good idea to get a guild that isn't full of idiots though, as being a new player is a bit intimidating. I was lucky and had friend's who played, so learning came quite easy. But being alone in Guild Wars is not a fun time.

And yes, there are henchmen and heroes that come with Nightfall, but they're not the most reliable party members. It's true you can do almost anything with a good henchie and hero lineup, but some missions are way easier with real people - another good reason to grab a guild as soon as you can.

Hope you enjoy the game!

OK, I just wanted to point it out because you'd be surprised how many people I've seen who were like 'WTF I THOUGHT THIS WAS A GRINDLESS GAME' and be surprised when they don't get into good HA groups and good guilds.

i'm way too jaded to think that

thanks everyone for your replies

WoW is banned!! Admin BAN BAN BAN!!! lol

GW is great for the casual player. There is work involved in unlocking stuff, but if you just do the PvE side of things, you'll unlock things quite a bit faster than in PvP - especially for a new player. (Prophecies is best for unlocking skills)

Not for 99% of it. You can find AI henchmen in towns to fill out your party (except for the beginner area of Prophecies), or if you play Nightfall, you can get Heros (AI henchmen deluxe!) to fill up the party. In the high-end areas, people ususally form Pick-up groups to go questing in.

There is some elitism that goes on in the PvP side of things, but the community as a whole is fairly friendly. On the PvE side, there isn't a whole lot of chat that goes on, especially in the trade cities.

There's a stickie thread here that's a good read for helping to decide. But I'd recommend the Original (Prophecies) for new players, soley for the skill quests. The other 2 don't offer you the chance to gain many new skills for free. If you don't plan on sharing an account, be sure to get the same chapter for the both of you, otherwise you won't be able to play together. Don't get factions first, it's just not geared towards new players.

Yep, they can. But most people save one of their character slots for the purpose of making PvP characters.

Your PvP opponents are generally randomly chosen. But only in the Random Arenas are you just thrown randomly into whatever party there is to fight along side.

Yes. Prophecies has the slowest leveling rate of the three chapters, but even so, you can reach level 5 or 6 within a few hours. Reaching level 20 can be done by a new casual player in Prophecies in as little as a couple of weeks. Take your time and enjoy the scenery. There's no need to rush through, since you're not paying a montly fee anyway.

Welcome to GW and good luck. I think you'll have a blast!

Nice thing about GW is that the best equipment is very easy to get in this game. So the trick becomes making the most of the 8 skills you can take into the game.

Regarding the prior comments about how "elite" the community is...if you join a friendly guild, then you can always ask them if you have a question about gameplay or quests. But www.guildwiki.org is a fantastic game resource. You'll find a lot of the answers to basic questions in there.

Most importantly, if you get black dye, don't sell it until you check the price with a dye trader.

Hope you enjoy the game.

[QUOTE=BladeDVD]Most importantly, if you get black dye, don't sell it until you check the price with a dye trader. [\QUOTE]

Amen to that! - All dyes are worth a lot more than 1g.