Hello folks!

Hey there. After having played EverQuest, Dark Age of Camelot and World of Warcraft, ive decided to make a change for awhile. I've heard alot of good about guild wars. I'm wondering if any of you could give me an idea of what the game is like.

I'm thinking of giving it a try, until Warhammer Online comes out.

I have enjoyed the previous MMO's ive played in the past, but the more I played the PVP aspect of them, the more I realize that it is lacking in some ways. I'm curious about the PVP mechanism of guild wars, how robust it is, how balanced and how fluid it is.

Would love to hear what you seasoned veterans have to say about it.

In many ways, Guild Wars is more like DAoC than WoW. I've played both of those games heavily for a 2 year period, so obviously I enjoyed them very much.

Guild Wars is important for its differences.

-Character levels exist with a level cap of 20 but leveling isn't a focus of the game at all. Gathering skills and trying different builds for the various encounters is the on-going challenge.

-Professions, also known as character classes, are unique in and of themselves but every player chooses a Primary and then a secondary profession. This mixes up the deck a lot if you are used to the usual pigeon-holes that character classes fell into in other games. The "Holy Trinity" of tank, heals and DPS is still partially there but...it may often be hard to recognize. But, if you play a Monk, people will still expect you to pull their bacon out of the fire more often than not.

-And, DPS...well, damage per second isn't something that belongs in Guild Wars jargon because it isn't really the governing factor. In DAoC and WoW, the talk of DPS entered into nearly every discussion, but not so in Guild Wars. I think this is mainly because there aren't really zergs in Guild Wars, but, I will defer the the lack of DPS-centricity to someone else. I can only tell you that it isn't a governing concept.

-Each chapter/campaign has a different feel and pacing but each campaign is connected to the other campaigns (if you choose) to make an even larger game world. The game is centered around the concept of "unlocking' areas (as well as skills). As you progress through a given chapter/campaign you will find your self opening up new areas. Of the three chapters, Prophecies has the more open design that allows you to "run" or bypass mission paths and quest hubs. Factions and Nightfall take a more restricted approach. Needless to say, after you have successfully progressed through an area you can return there at anytime.

-Instancing: when you leave a town or outpost you and anyone grouped with you will be in your own private explorable area. This may seem weird at first because you won't be running into dozens of other players or trying to compete for a quest mob. On the other side of the coin, while there is no one there to hinder you and your party, there is also no one there to save you if you get into trouble. The Death Penalty takes effect upon death and reduces all your stats by 15% for each death up to the max penalty of 60% reduction. The good news is that this DP goes away upon entering a town or outpost.

-PvP, while I haven't PvP'ed nearly as much in Guild Wars, I can tell you that the dynamic is completely different. Battles generally last longer and AoE doesn't play quite the same role and mass crowd control is simply non-existent. I am stating these as positives, not negatives, lol.

-Gear and Weapons are balanced, it's more about unique/rare skins than stats although there are a variety of stats to compliment various and particular builds. But, no Armor or weapons to make you god-like.

-Skills, however, can be collected and some are categorized as "elite" and can be captured from defeated Bosses. Elite skills are generally powerful and useful and play a large part in successful builds often as "cornerstone skills". But, in the interest of balance: only one elite can be on your skill bar at one time.

-The game seems simple to the new player and then starts gathering subtleties as they progress further. Various skills and builds make up a lot of the variety but when combined with player teams and the many types of enemies you will encounter and the mission challenges, you end up with a very varied experience.

-Guild Wars is a game you can set aside and come back later with out feeling you have "fallen behind". In DAoC and WoW if you left for a 3 week vacation, you had a lot of catching up to do when you got back to get back on the same level as your guildees, etc. (Master Levels, Trials, Raids, Loot Drops, DKP, etc.) Missions are the closest things that Guild Wars has to raids, but they don't last 5 hours or require 40 of your "closest" friends to accomplish. There are high ends areas that can take quite a lot of time to clear but the rewards are greater as well.

OK I've rambled enough, feel free to ask questions or browse the GW-Wiki:

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

Thanks for that insightful write up. I'm thinking I may give it a try, simply because I would like to have something that I can play ever now and then, and not feel like I have to keep grinding every day in order to stay up with everyone. From what you have said, this game is not that way, which is a good thing.

yes definately not alot of grind in GW unless you want to Grind. PVP and PVE are not codependent. (mostly) so you don't have to PVE to get the best weapons/armor/skills etc to be effective in PVP. You can build a PVP toon that is LVL 20 right fromt he start....although he won't have alot of skills to use at first because you will have to unlock them with Balthazar Factions that you get when you kill a different Toon. Regular skills and Items(runes, insignias) cost 1k factions where as elite and superior runes cost 3k each. If you are going to focus on PVP then stick with PVP until you get the hang of it.....or vice Versa because the way the game is "played" it's totally different tactics and synergy between PVE and PVP.

Ok, went out and bough Nightfall last night, might pick up the other two later. Haven't had a chance to play it yet, but I do have a few more questions.

What classes are the most played and what are the least played? Are there any classes that are just totally useless? I have been thinking of a necromancer or a paragon. All classes in this game sound appealing, but those were the two that stuck out in my mind. I usually like to try classes that are among the lesser played, for whatever reason, but I don't want to put too much of an investment into a class that is useless. I know that alot of people like to flock to the big three: Tank, Healer, Rogue, and those classes are mighty fine, but you find that you can have too many of them if everyone is playing them. So I guess what I am really asking is, what is the diversification of classes in this game? Are each class equally played or are there some that don't get much attention?

The classes all seem to be played on an even amount to me. I don't really take note. None of the classes in my opinion are useless.

There are no bad professions in GW, only bad players. Don't worry about what other people think, find a couple that you like and play them to your heart's content.

But for starting out and just learning the game, going with one of the more often played professions wouldn't be a bad idea. Monks, Warriors, and Elementalists are considered by many to be the easiest to learn, with Rangers not far behind. After that it's Necros, Ritualists, Assassins. Mesmers are considered by many to be the toughest profession to master, and they're not appreciated in PvE nearly as much as they deserve. But in PvP, they're very well respected.

I would think that a Monk would be hard to learn, because they're a squishy and can't dea to much damage?

Anyway, welcome to Guild Wars, Gralak!
I suggest starting off as a Warrior or an Elementalist, as they're considered the easiest to learn. Definetly not the Mesmer, though.

Welcome to GuildWars, Gralak!

I have to say that it is very different than Wow. For a New profession of the two you were looking at, I would recommend the Zecromancer, or as it is called in slang, the Necro.

The reason for this choice is that the necro is a general purpose character with few weaknesses. I hope that you experiment and find the Profession that works for you however.

Good Luck!
Illithen

Welcome to GW!

Every profession has its use somewhere, and all of them are equally powerful in their own unique ways. I think it helps you learn if you start off with a character that suits your own personality. Take a look at the GW Wiki and read up on what each of the professions does, and the kinds of skills they bring. For example, if you're a gentle soul who loves to help others you might want to try the Monk, if you're a nature/animal lover you might want to look at the Ranger, if you love to sing or play as the field commander the Paragon might be a bit more you, or if you're an enigmatic person with an excess of wit and charisma the Mesmer is right up your alley. And since you'll always have a minimum of 4 character slots, you'll have plenty of opportunities to experiment with as many different characters as you like.

I'm also going to break with opinion so far and say that a Mesmer is a great way to learn the game. Mesmers spend most of their time countering the enemy's actions and virtually everything they do is indirect, so they offer the chance to learn about all of the game's professions simultaneously. The Mesmer is the perfect crash course in game mechanics, although they do need a bit more patience and forward planning to be effective (but when they are effective, they can thrash absolutely anything that the game can throw at them).

Also, if you'd like some company in-game feel free to add me to your buddy list. You can find my character name under my avatar here

Thanks for the replies folks. Sounds like a good group of people here and you all enjoy the game, which is a great thing...much different from all the complaining and griping that you see on the WoW forums most of the time.

So, I went out and bought Prophecies last night, because after doing a little reading, it appears that it has the smallest of learning curves, and also is where the storyline begins. So I installed it..but now it's in the "decompress" mode...says I have like 5,562 files remaining, but that number is not decreasing and the progress bar doesnt seem to be moving, happened last night when I tried to start it with just Nightfall installed. How long does this take?