Playing GW in Japan?

Hello. I live in Japan right and have been playing WoW on a North American server no problem (my ms would generally range from 280-330). However, I'm just really getting sick of Warcraft. It takes too much time to do anything, and I don't feel like taking 2 months building up a new character just to experience pvp with another class.

So, would I be able to play GW here in Japan without a problem? How does the server system work? I'd be using the US version of the game, so I assume that means I'd be playing on a US server. I just don't want to purchase multiple chapters of the game only to have unplayable lag.

First off, purchasing a physical boxed copy of GW is not the only option for getting started. You could buy an account in the online store and download all the content if so desired. It's a great feature in case you aren't able to find a store nearby that carries the product.

Secondly, when creating a new account you are asked to choose from a list of homes, sorted by geography. Current possibilities are America, Europe, Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. I cannot attest to the average latency for overseas users; perhaps someone else has experience there and can help you out.

Thanks for the response.

I just downloaded the client from the official website, but of course I can't do anything yet without a key. I checked The PlayNC Store for Guild Wars, but there doesn't seem to be an option to purchase it there. When you click the link it just drops down to the "Buy from these retailers: Best Buy, Comp USA, etc" section.

Am I looking in the wrong place?

I'd reeeeeeeally like to be able to try it before I purchase though, mostly because I want to make sure latency will be manageable (though, if you have the option to chose Japan in the list of homes, does that mean I'll be able to use a local server to play with people in the US?)

Start up the client itself. In the top-left there's a button that says "Online store" or "NCSoft Store" or something like that (I don't use the online store personally. If I'm paying full price I want my manuals, etc...).

As for trials, I don't know about Japan. If you have any American friends/family though, a 10-hour/14 day (w/e Comes first) trial can be had for 2 dollars at gamestop. They could email you the key or something.

What they said sums up pretty much everything except for the ping.

I'm in Hong Kong (Quite close to Japan) right now and playing on American servers, and the pings are fine.

All Guildwars servers are physically located in America. People from all around the world are playing on them without major latency issues (well, most of the time ), including Japan. Your ping will most likely be worse compared to a player who's located in America, but it should be good enough.

<---Live in Japan, have no problems with the servers, dont get too much lag...

I don't know how generous people on these forums are, but I know there are trial keys out there for each of the games. I think there's a thread that you can ask for a trial key too. I hope you get one and (hopefully) welcome to Guild Wars!