Considering Starting Guildwars :)

hey there guys,

I've been a player of WoW for around 2 years now, and have enjoyed it greatly, however, as of late I have got bored with the neverending grind for the usual things you get in MMORPG's, and fancied a change.
So what I'm asking, is would you be able to answer a few of my questions and try to give a positive and negative side in the answers

here goes..

1, Is there a monthly fee to play?
2, Do you have to level your character, if so, how easy/hard is it?
3, In WoW, Player Vs Player was a huge part in my play time, what is it like in this game?
4, What is the actual end goal of the game? (if there is one)

have a few more questions, but will post them later when I get these answered

Thanks in advance.

Eis

1. there is no monthly fee, however, there are currently 3 chapters to buy and an expansion coming out in the 3rd quarter of this year.

2. Level in capped at 20 - a hard core player can do this in 1-3 days, casual player 1-3 weeks

3. Hard Core PvP is an optional part of GW - or you can just PvP without ever following the PvE section.

Casual PvP is intergrated into the storylines in the 2nd chapter, factions

You can make a level 20 character just for PvP

4. In a PvE sense there is a storyline you follow to save the "World" in all three chapters. The third chapter ties the previous two together. The storylines are quite good.

The expansion coming out will answer unfinished questions and act as a "bridge" towards GW2 coming out in 2009 - although characters can not make the jump - titles, weapons, armor can in some way, yet to be fully explained.

to me "grind" is as you specifically perceive it. I personally don't believe GW ends after finishing all 3 chapters - there is always something to do and weekend events - holiday events. I love the title system in GW and spend a lot of time working on them. There are also elite missions and hard mode.

Hope this helps

hmm.. so far, it sounds pretty cool

Would you be able to give some more information about the pvp side of the game?

also, about getting weapons/armour etc, how would this be achieved?

Thanks

Eis

The PvP side has the wonderful feature of rolling perfect chars

You can roll a toon at level 20, max stats with perfect gear whenever you want, but of course these can only be used in PvP

Getting weapons/armor in PvP is very simple, just click a button and you can make w/e you want

as for Pve it gets....harder, not uber harded but things in PvE take time - Even for a PvP player i suggest taking a casual stroll though PvE - The plots really are rather good

I to am looking into trying something different and am glad to have stumbled upon this thread.

- In GW do they have professions? As in WoW there are various professions that can make you extra cash on the side or even to help better equip your character. Also one of the things I do like about WoW is the wide variety of armor and weapons available either from dungeons or from random drops. I guess what I am asking here is *Is there a variety in the way gear looks or is everyone just a "cookie cutter" toon?

KK

Here is a link to guildwiki.org http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Main_Page

That site explains most of the gameplay including PvP types, weapons, armor, skills, etc.

What it doesn't explain is the enjoyment in playing GW your way. You can build a PvP character by playing through the PvE, equipping your character with prestige (but not stronger) armor and weapons, and skills bought with gold or captured from bosses. Or you can roll a PvP character, max level, max ( but chapter generic) armor and weapons, and unlock skills using faction won in matches. Some people do both.

There is no uber character setup available. Level 20 is the max level. Only 8 skills are available on your bar and you learn to use them wisely. PvP is about teamwork and skill synergy. PvE about planning ahead.
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Professions in GW mean fighting professions. All crafter, merchant etc. are NPCs. To earn gold, you go out and kill things, sell the drops, or get a quest reward.

For armor styles, check it out on guildwiki (see link above). Armor is purchased using gold & stated materials or (in early game) from NPC collectors. All armor is customized to player character and cannot be bought from or sold to another player. It can be enhanced through the use of runes according to your profession. You can also dye your armor.

Killerklown, here is a link for info about different Professions:
http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Profession

...And here for info on armour for each class
http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Armor_types

EDIT: Ahh, slow me...

On the PvP side of things, a PvP character can create weapons and armor with max stats. Any extra modifiers on that gear can be added at the same time, although you will not have access to everything right away. Many things will start out "locked" for a PvP only character, but there are ways to get more things unlocked.

The first way is to play PvE. Skills, weapon upgrades and armor upgrades that you find in PvE become unlocked for your PvP characters to use.

The second way is to play PvP. As you fight in the PvP arenas, you will be awarded with Balthazar Faction, which you can then trade in to unlock new things to use.

The third way is to visit the GW online store and buy a PvP edition of the game. This will unlock pretty much everything for you immediately.

Of the three options, I would suggest playing PvE. That way, you'll learn a lot more about the game mechanics and how to combine your skills for greater effect.

For getting weapons and armor in PvE, you will need to talk to the weaponsmiths and armor crafters (found in every major town and quite a few outposts). They will make new equipment for you, if you supply them with the raw materials they need and pay them for their work. Materials are easy to come by, and the gold cost is easy to scrape together as cash is plentiful.

Slow reader here, so give me a few mins to read over those links

Eis

okay, had a read-through, has answered a few of my questions, but wait! theres more!..

With regards to the 3(?) "expansion" packs that there are, would you be able to explain what would be best?
in terms of what each expansion contains etc?

Thanks in advance

Eis

1. Not expansions. They are complete stand-alone chapters that can be linked by adding the key to your existing account. This allows you to take your characters from one chapter to play through the game in another chapter.

2. There is a sticky at the top of the Q&A forum that compares the chapters (player on a budget).

3. The expansion Eye of the North, which requires owning at least one chapter, will be available later this year.
-----

And to the new members in this thread, welcome to guildwarsguru.

The three games that are out right now are better described as "chapters" - you do not need to have Prophecies to be able to play Factions or Nightfall, as they are all stand-alone games that share the same basic game client.

Prophecies has a predominantly European setting and gives you access to the 6 core professions (warrior, ranger, monk, elementalist, necromancer, mesmer). The storyline is quite long, but watch out for plotholes as you move through the 25 missions that make up the main storyline. Also, Prophecies is unique in has a number of quests that give you skills as rewards after you've gone through basic training. Prophecies is a great start for any beginner, as you get introduced to skills and concepts more slowly and gives you plenty of time to learn your chosen profession and how the game works.

Factions has an Asian setting and gives you the 6 core professions plus the assassin and ritualist. The storyline is short (13 missions total) but very engaging and surprisingly detailed. Difficulty level increases quite rapidly, so perhaps it's not the best start for a new player, but it does introduce a number of different PvP options and as a PvP primer, Factions is unmatched in my opinion.

Nightfall has a North Afrcican/Middle Eastern setting, and gives you the 6 core professions plus the dervish and paragon. The storyline is longer than Factions, and a bit shorter than Prophecies, and although it takes a while for the real story to begin it becomes very engaging. Nightfall also gives you heroes, which can be looked at as customisable henchmen (you choose the skills they use, their weapons of choice and the bonuses on their equipment). Because of this feature, Nightfall is a great chapter to start with as a newcomer.

There's a sticky thread on here somewhere that goes into the chapters in more detail and which ones would perhaps be best to start with. You should hunt around and read it over for more information

wicked, thanks for that Toutatis, Defrayer and Darcy. I'll have a browse through the existing threads on the forums to see if I can gather up some knowledge on the game aspects I want to know about

I will most likely be back here ready to ask a few more questions, so if you can, please stick around

Eis

GW PvP = FPS matches with the RPG touch. Not like wow, where your epic loot depends who wins.

Wow, your story is very similar to mine. I have T4, 2.5 years in WoW since closed beta, blah blah blah. Grinding 4tl.

1. No. But you'll drop at least 40 for the first campaign, then be tempted to buy the others. Just plan on buying one of them to get a feel for it, or use a buddy key. You can work out which one and all that later after you decide whether or not you like the game in the first place.

2. The constant focus in WoW on level is not in GW at all. You reach the level cap LONG before you are ready for prime time pvp on your toon. That's not to say you can't pvp, it's just that you'll have plenty to do after you turn 20, and it won't take long. My newest ranger took about 60 hours to cap and I didn't even notice to tell you the truth, cause I was busy playing.

3. GW pvp is far far superior to WoW pvp. I'm a serious PvPer, and gw just beats the pants off of WoW in that regard. I'm not saying I don't like pvp in wow, it's just that GW has it nailed imo. ymmv.

4. I can speak to this because I have done both end games.

In WoW the end game consists of grinding for weeks to get faction to get the items and keys you need to raid or get the gear you need.

There is no grinding in GW. There IS farming, but not grinding.

In WoW you have to grind to get the gear to compete in pve or pvp. In GW you won't have any trouble getting the top armor in the game the first day if you have the money. The thing you'll be doing in GW is going out to capture the SKILLS you want from the NPCs that have them in the world. You equip a special signet and capture the skills of dead bosses and use them in pvp and pve. It's awesome. Every day you make progress.

GW also has titles so you can achieve things here and there to get titles that display under your name. There are a lot of these.

GW PvE is about the easiest thing in the universe, WoW's is definitely a bigger challenge in about every way, but the real prize is the PvP, which you will crave once you start in on it. Think of it as a sport -- it's that organized.

GW PvE is very very pretty though, and I am not saying I don't enjoy it. It's great. One of the great things about it is that once you've visited a place you don't have to walk there, you can just jump to any city you've ever been to. And you can travel between expansions that you own as well, to get skills or items you want.

Trust me, if you are sick of grinding then you will love GW at least enough to play for a while. Now that I'm finally getting kinda better at the actual game (we're all noobs at the beginning), I am starting to love love love it. Each night I log out feeling like I made progress towards my goal of having all the skills my toon needs to play, and there are great PvP arenas to do, in all kinds of different flavors.

If you come over, drop me a tell. My IG name is Pleasure Craft.

Best regards,
Earley

1, Is there a monthly fee to play?
2, Do you have to level your character, if so, how easy/hard is it?
3, In WoW, Player Vs Player was a huge part in my play time, what is it like in this game?
4, What is the actual end goal of the game? (if there is one)

This is an answer coming from a seasoned 2 year veteran.

1) No, there is no fee to pay. All of the campaigns out right now are standalone games. You could buy any of the three and be able to play it all by itself, but having all 3 combined on your account is much much better for many reasons.

2) Levelling your character is not an issue, your character is capped at level 20 and can easily be done within a day (hardcore or not). Everything is dead even. It is very easy to get the best possible armor and weapons. In fact, if you don't care how they look, you can get the best performing weapons and armor for free just for trading in monster trophies to NPCs called Collectors.

3) Guild wars has a good PvE feel to it, but this game was built around pvp. everyone is completely balanced and even, so it's player skills, not time spent grinding that decides a victor. It's very strategic, and there are different types of pvp. If you want to skip the Pve portion of the game, you can instantly make 20th level pvp characters that can only participate in pvp activities, and cannot visit pve towns, but playing in pve will unlock items and modifications and skills used for your pvp-only characters. However, playing in pvp will reward your kills with what is called Balthazar Faction, which are points that can be spend to unlock skills and items without having to play in PvE.

Additionally, on pvp-only characters, you are automatically set up with maximum defence armor and maximum damage weapons.

4) This is unlike other MMORPGs, in fact, Guild wars isnt even an MMORPG. People do not play in 1 big seamless world. Going out and killing monsters or doing quest in missions is all instance based. You get your own copy of the map all by yourself, and with the rest of your party. Towns, cities, and outposts are where you mingle with people to form groups. If you cannot find other people to play with, you can hire (for free) automated henchmen to fight for you, which are surprisingly intelligent considering they are just AI. If you decide to buy guild wars Nightfall, you can get Heroes, which are essentially henchmen, but you can outfit your heroes with whatever you want. Any weapon you want, any armor, any skills, any attributes. They are basically henchmen that you create yourself, but you don't get to choose how they look. You can give them commands by setting up flags.

Back to what I was saying about this not being an MMORPG, it is actually just an online RPG, it is not MM. What I mean by that is, this is more like a console game, like final fantasy, but online. it has a real storyline, cinematics, lots of dialogue. When you beat the game (with the exception of the original guild wars, guild wars prophecies) you get a special powerful endgame item with perfect mods and low requirements. Getting to level 20 is basically a tutorial, it's all easy up until that point, and beating the game for a beginner would only take a few weeks or maybe a couple of months depending on how much you play.

The real part of guild wars that makes it addictive is getting the best looking items, the best looking armor, lots of money, displayable titles that are acquired by completing great tasks. It's all about status symbols.

This WILL seem very different from WoW, and you likely won't enjoy it at first because it seems so strange and different, but it grows on you in time and you really start to respect the balance of it. There are no hacks, no cheats. There are a couple of farming bots around but they don't bother you. There are very little bugs, very little lag.

You can get a free trial of all 3 campaigns on www.guildwars.com or you can ask someone for one of their free trial cards. I probably have 3 cd-keys with trial periods.

Anyways, try it out, it's not for everyone, it's about SKILL, not hours spent grinding. A newbie player could be naturally better than a player who's been playing for a year. Normally people who lack skill tend to whine about the game cause they can't just stay up for 2 weeks all night every night grinding to get ahead of everyone so they complain that they lose and run to WoW.

Anyways, have a good one.

There's two very insightfull posts there, Dahl and Earley, helped me out a lot.
With the first "chapter" of the game, If I went out and bought it, would I be able to get a taste of pvp from that one chapter? as It would be a shame for me to go out, buy all 3 versions, and then realise that the PvP in the game just isn't my cup of tea.

If you have any more information which you think may be helpfull, please, post it

Eis

Yeah you'll get a taste of pvp, as you will encounter everything from all chapters.

From just Prophecies, you'll be able to get a taste of PvP. Most of the PvP action takes place on the Battle Isles, which is a core area (which any character from any campaign is able to visit - PvP characters start there and PvE characters can travel there once they reach a port), so expect to come across characters of all professions and ethnicities while you're there.

Also, there is an observation mode. While in a town or outpost, press B and you'll see a list of recent PvP matches that you can watch at your leisure

Prophecies and Factions have level-maxed arenas early in the PvE game, although I believe they are dominated by experienced players using low level characters. Check the wiki for the details.

You have four character slots, so you can feel free to roll a PvP-only character and come to life at the Temple of Balthazar. There you can test out weapon and spell mechanics in the training area and start your PvP career in the Zaishen training, before moving on to the Random Arena, etc.

This will give you the "taste" you are after, although it doesn't really show you the higher-end PvP where teamwork and teambuilds are more important. For that the best "taste" on offer is Observer mode, which allows you to watch a completed match.

There is no penalty for deleting a character (err, just make sure you have removed all runes, gold and inventory items), in order to reuse the slot.

Every new chapter you link will add 2 slots and if you feel the need, you can purchase extras through the Store link on the character selection screen.

okay, well, I downloaded the client from their website, and managed to get a trial pass for the nightfall version, thought it was going great, made my character, and went to "log in" then It had to load around 9,000 files, which took best part of 2 and a half hours, which I don't understand seeing as I have a 4meg broadband connection, which should be fast, so I waited..
Get into the game, do a couple of quests in the area, and then was told to go to the temple of balthazar, (or something like that), and to my delight.. there I was faced with another loading screen to download 8,000 files,
At that point, I exited.

Does this happen all the time, and would this happen If I bought the disk version of the game in shops?

Eis

Yes, it would. The best method is to add a second icon to your desktop, rename the icon to GW download or something like that, find the target address and add (space)-image to the end of it. Use this icon to download outside of the game. Run it overnight, it is less frustrating.

This will download the whole available dat file (about 3GB), instead of downloading on demand when you move to a new area.

Even the Nightfall disk is not a lot of help due to the constant updates ANet does on at least a weekly basis. Some are small and some are very large, but added together since the end of October, it makes for a lot of changes.

This only happens the first time you enter an area.