GW: A Journey

Introduction: This is the story of my journey through Guild Wars. I am going into great depth to give the reader an idea of where my ideas and opinions are coming from. Within this story, I will explore the topics of: basic PvE in the beginning and how the fun of it exponentially declined through the campaigns, the beginnings of PvP and its evolution in popularity, build trends, party formation, and general game play, the GvG system and its affects and changes through observer mode, the ladder reformat, and the new class additions, general view towards ArenaNet by the majority and my contrasting views, and a few humorous stories along the way. My intent is to entertain those willing to read it as well as inform then general community, share my opinions with ArenaNet (permitting they read it), and provide discussion topics to generate debates. So without further ado, I give you my journey through Guild Wars.

Guild Wars: A Journey through my Eyes
Part 1: Beta to Lich

I, like many of you, was first intrigued by Guild Wars from its proclamation of a fee free MMO. No money is always good (but you also get what you pay for). This seemed like a trap to me. I had never been a fan of MMO games because they required grinding to be powerful; and let’s face it, everyone that plays an online game seeks power of some sort, be it in game wealth, fame amongst peers, or simply the shiver down your spine from pounding an opponent into the ground. I was fascinated by games like Command and Conquer where the keen intellect, quick thinking, and overall strategy won out over the experience and game grind to achieve supremacy. However, after digging a bit deeper, I came to an understanding that this was unlike any other MMO on the market. A level cap of 20 and an emphasis on builds and skills really appealed to me. I decided the Guild Wars beta was a worthy use of precious space on my measly 30 GB hard drive.

Midknight Ranger was my name, and Ranger/Monk was my game. I spent the majority of the beta playing through the game with a clean slate of how this game worked. Sure I saw the use of dual shot from a mathematical point, and could use savage shot as well as anyone else after a bit of practice, but everyone around me seemed to be as completely lost as me when it came to creating balance in a build. Hamstorm (W/E with Hamstring and Firestorm) was quite common because it made perfect sense to stop an enemy in his tracks and rain a powerful spell down to deal maximum damage. I never laughed at it; it killed enemies. Besides, once I used dual shot and savage shot, I was pretty much out of options as damage skills until they came back around. So I’d spam healing breeze on those taking damage and run around looking at pretty plants. I decided this was pretty fun and bought Guild Wars on the first day of its release, ready to leap into the MMO world head on.

I loaded up my first character into Pre-Searing Ascalon shortly after game release. I decided an Elementalist/Monk was pretty much as great a combination as peanut butter and jelly. I can deal out the most damage possible while keeping myself alive. I was brilliant above all others who chose more inferior builds. I quickly found out about this thing called “Divine Favor” when I saw a Monk at level 3 putting up two blue numbers while I was only putting up one. Okay, so maybe monk primaries are pretty useful. I already knew that Warriors could take more damage than me. So with my damage, a Warrior’s damage absorption ability, and a Monk’s healing ability, what more do I need? From this train of thought, similar to many others, I created an exclusive trinity of perfection. Every time I walked through that portal, I was with at least one Warrior and one Monk. Life was good. I was progressing through the game at a leisurely pace and enjoying my stroll through Tyria. Power was not my objective. I was simply smelling the roses and learning things as I went along.

After conquering the Dragon’s Lair, I felt to be a pretty seasoned veteran. The Scepter of Orr was rescued, I had Ascended, and some bluish clear dragon thought I was doing something important. With all of this on my in-game resume, I thought I’d check out this Tomb of the Primeval Kings (now known as Heroes’ Ascent) which I had heard about from a few players I had journeyed with. They said the player versus player in this game was really fun and fast paced. I figured I would give it a shot. After all, I had crossed through the treacheries of Tyria with no exceeding difficulty. Upon loading into Tombs I was thrown into a sea of words like PUG, HoH, LFG, GLF, and all myriad of one word build descriptions. I might as well have been at NAVCAD learning FAR/AIMs with my GOs and spitting out METARs and NOTAMs. In other words, I was confused.

It was time to get my feet wet and dip that proverbial toe into the PvP water. I got scalded badly. My toe nearly fell off. I had not seen a Mesmer or a Necromancer in action until my first PvP battle. “Why can I not get lightning orb off? Oh, it’s this skill called Cry of Frustration that shows up and I take damage. Why is this tower shooting lightning at me? Who is this really tall ghost following me around? Ah, I’m dead already.” This train of thought went on for a good ten minutes as no one could imbalance the stalemate. We slowly lost an attrition battle of energy and wiped out to the Tombs chamber again. Looking back, nobody called me a “noob” for dying. I did not even see insults being thrown back and forth at each other. We congratulated a good effort on everyone’s part and left.

I decided that I was not the best player in the game at that time and sought to finish the game. The final five missions of the game proved to challenge me and give me a deeper understanding of teamwork and build coordination. Most notably, Thunderhead Keep gave me frustration and a desire to cleanly beat the mission. After a few failed attempts, I learned the tricks of the mission and used warriors to wall the doors as I rained fire down on the Mursaat. While completing the game, my mind changed its focus and I became more mature. I was constantly buying new skills and trying to fit them in. “No I can’t put that one in, it requires too much energy. Ok I can put it in now with Glyph of Lesser Energy. What have I been having trouble against? Ok, Whirlwind knocks down those pesky Mursaat Warriors and lets me run away. This ward will help my Monks stay alive, so I should bring it for the good of the party.” I more completely understood the niches of each class and was able to build parties to play to the weaknesses of enemies in the mission. In a few short days, I stood atop the corpse of the Lich and savored my victory. I had slain the evil of the game, now came time to storm the realm of PvP.

Next time: I storm through the Tombs to the Hall of Heroes and begin to dabble in the intimidating world of Guild Battles.

Discussion Questions:
This is meant to put discussion in a past mindset. Discuss as if you were a character within a month of the release of Guild Wars: Prophecies.
1) What was your train of thought in selecting your character profession?
2) How would you view the relationships of PvE or PvP players today with early game release relationships?
3) What was your greatest achievement early on in the game and why?
4) How differently did you view them game with respect to today?

Interesting post, unfortunately you probably aren't gonna get many decent replies here. :/

1) I wanted the character that would be "easiest" to play, and easiest to learn on (I chose ele >.> )
2) I honestly don't know, as I don't PvP.
3) Beating Thunderhead Keep, because the first 30 or so groups I was in failed. >.>
4) Back then I explored, had a lot to learn. Now everything I do seems to have a set goal.


EDIT: Thank you to whichever mod removed the above post, and edited mine.

As for choosing my first character, I went with an Ele mostly because I always prefer to run a "wizard" class in any game that offers that option.

My mindset was to take my time a do everything along the way through the game, but that only lasted as long as it took to get my first character through the game. After that, run, run, run. And with each chapter, primary quests were basically the only ones I put forth the effort to complete.

When I selected my first character, a Ranger, I liked the idea of having a companion to go adventuring with. That's the prime factor for me: "How much fun will this be?" I made my Warrior for those times when I just want to go in and stand toe-to-toe with the enemy. My Monk is fun to play occasionally. I made her because I didn't have one and I wanted to get Legondary Survivor on someone. My main character, a Mesmer, I made for a change of pace. I had tried Elementalist and didn't care for it & Necro, assassin, and Ritualist aren't my cup of tea.
Is there one? In general, most PvPers hang with PvPers, and PvEers hang with PvEers. That's not to say there are lots of people out there with friends on both sides of the aisle, but you're going to make more friends where you are, it's only natural.
Getting every mission & every bonus, in order (except that stupid bonus you need to be infused for that shows up on the mission before you can get infused) just for the sake of doing it. This was before titles, and shortly after Tombs went PvE.
Back in the day, everything was new. I got a late start (couldn't get the game until a week after release), and when people talked about being in places like "Yak's Bend" and "Lion's Arch" I'd thing "Wow! Those sound like pretty cool places, those guys must be getting close to the end! The Community was open and much friendlier than it is these days. But there were some issues that came up and fractured it - trade spam in all chat is a good example of a negative influence on the overall community. I'm very happy that they've cracked down on it, now there are actual conversations going on.

Of course, there are members of the community itself that detract from what it once was. I see lots of people on here saying they turn off all-chat and only talk to friends/guildies because of the crap that gets put out there. The thing is, not every conversation is of the juvenile delinquent, potty-mouth, racist garbage, type.

Back in the day, when someone asked a question, they'd usually get 3+ people answering them. Today, they'd be lucky to get an answer at all! Case in point: Last night, I was in Kamadan, AD3 (all alone, so very, very alone. - except for the person who was AFK.) working on my Drunkard title. Well, someone popped in to the district and saw my character say "I'm the king of the world," like drunk characters do. He asked me how I did that. I told him. He said "It's about time I found someone to answer my question, I've been asking people all week." That's a sad commentary on this so-called community.

EDIT: Removed a reference to a post that has since been deleted.

1) What was your train of thought in selecting your character profession?

which class looks/is the coolest, would b most fun and a challenge to play, being an anime fan [but NOT a naruto fan] i decided to go with assasin as main since it was apparently hard to play em well, but i liked the risk involved in being a glass cannon and rather preferred getting stuck in to the action while i played then keeping my character alive and dieing less. my next two were rit and a ranger primary, rit cos i really liked the gameplay and skills it had aswell as the kurzick armor, and ranger for pretty much the same thing except didnt like the ranger armor as much but having a pet definately made up for that

2) How would you view the relationships of PvE or PvP players today with early
game release relationships?

less friendly and less interaction in general it seems, bar in-guild interaction

3) What was your greatest achievement early on in the game and why?

completing my first mission, i thought it was a bid deal lol apart from that i enjoyed doing every quest and doing everything i could in the game with my characters progres up to that point in the story, e.g. mastering all the missions up to that point,

4) How differently did you view them game with respect to today?

it was much better then i expected it to be, regret not playing it earlier :P, when i first heard of it i thought it was a typical point and click grind fest, i was gladly mistaken but the community aspect of it could hav been just a little bit better but its not bad :P

Midknight, I started playing release date of Prophecies. I was a devout WoW player at the time. What really attracted me to the game initially was a tiny phrase from one of the devs pre-release that fell on my ear like a thunderclap : "... and every class will be able to use a longbow ..." See, I was playing a Paladin in WoW at the time and bitterly resented the lack of any ranged weapon for pulling.

1. But I rolled a Ranger, not a W/Mo as I had originally planned and set out to explore pre-searing with delight. Pre-searing was a lot more fun and a tad more challenging in those days, worms waving about on the road to greet you, and Gwen front and center to help you out. Eventually I went over to Melandru's Shrine and tamed a Melandru's Stalker; there was something almost mystical about that quest. That same Melandru's Stalker is still my pet; can't bear the idea of parting with him. We have been through all three chapters together, and now Eye of the North.

2. I'll pass on the PvP question. I did not start PvP until Fort Aspenwood lured me in with its gentle introduction.

3. Greatest Early Achievement ... Completing the last mission of Prophecies with henchmen, after I had already done it with players. I was proud of myself for weeks!

4. I think the biggest difference is that somehow the original game was laid back fun and adventure. You knew you would eventually "get there," but "getting there was all the fun!" With succeeding chapters, the devs became afflicted by a "work ethic." Whereas the original game was more about adventuring about in a relaxed sort of way, the game has evolved more and more towards being altogether too much like work.

I first chose an ele, but i didn't wanna stick with her. Then i deleted her and replaced her with a female war and made a female monk. Didn't like the fact that my brother kept making me a whole bunch of females. I wanted more a combo of males and females on my account... So my first permenant char was a male war. My favorite char since i like the way he looks and has the coolest weapons. I use him almost every time im on and hes still my main. After 2 years

PvE is fun until you finish the game and the storyline. PvP is great cause you can play with friends and Guild related things are the most fun.

Completely completing Prophecies is my greatest achievement. It took sooo long and hard that I left for about a year. Came back about 6 months after factions came out and around the time of nightfall. Now i finished every single part of the game.

The economy is down the drain, 1 mil is so common to get and obsidian armor is easy to obtain and no longer "eL33T". Also now we have really greedy and mean players who scam and trash everyone. A lot of good things have been invented for new players to start. Perfect Salvage kits, inscriptions, minipets, and treasure chest running has made GW a lot of fun

Great post!


1) What was your train of thought in selecting your character profession?

Well, I got Guild Wars in July 2005, so by that time, there was already info on the net. I chose Necro because I saw the idea of free energy as a huge benefit. Unfortunately, I chose Ranger as Secondary, and deleted the character out of frustration before I even made it to Yak's Bend. So, I made a Mesmer/Ele instead!

2) How would you view the relationships of PvE or PvP players today with early game release relationships?

The only PvP I played were the Arenas along the way, and I actually had fun playing them, but it felt to me like a distraction from the "true" game: PvE! LOL



3) What was your greatest achievement early on in the game and why?

Well, I remember being really happy when I finally Ascended. And then, it was still the same game! So, I was kinda bummed: That was it? I actually never finished the game with my Mesmer! After I got to the Fire Islands I started capping skills, and realized there was really no "reason" to finish... So, I started a Warrior/Monk instead (became W/Ra as soon as I ascended).


4) How differently did you view them game with respect to today?

More jaded today. I still end up creating new characters in Prophecy just to see pre-searing again...

I think it was the right call to start GW2. Guild Wars has become bloated, with too many professions, too many skills, etc. I'm looking forward to a game that has very simple mechanics, but complex interactions, that (hopefully) won't require a storage full of armor for all your builds. (if that makes any sense at all... I'm really tired today!)

1) What was your train of thought in selecting your character profession?

I wanted a class that required a degree of forethought and cleverness, so I went with Mesmer. Awesome choice.

2) How would you view the relationships of PvE or PvP players today with early game release relationships?

Friendships I've developed in the game have all been mostly in PvE. I found relationships were better when my orignal guildies and I were all noobs and had to figure things out together. Those were good times. Now a lot of us have lost contact, and some inactive (myself to blame there).

3) What was your greatest achievement early on in the game and why?

Killing a Moa Bird!!!11!1 Er, how early are we talking? Definitely crafting Fissure of Woe's Obsidian armor, once for my Mesmer, and once for my Warrior, was my biggest accomplishment.

4) How differently did you view them game with respect to today?

It just felt more fresh back then, when A-net was still figuring things out as the game grew. I'd go back to those days in a heartbeat, having fun just exploring in pre-searing.

well, I was thinking about creating a monk but as I've seen events in beta, there were lots of warriors and monks, so I ended-up making Mesmer, which was was unique, also I was in love with skill Blackout back then, though I had hard times getting into groups I managed to finish the game. Go Mesmers!


PVP was amazing and fun back in the days, lots of creative builds were floating around. Of course some people figured some gimmick builds (spirit spammers ) others kept working on new builds. Now-a-days pvp is a joke, its all about using same builds, creativity has gone down.
PVE was awesome as well, since the game was brand new everyone were excited to beat the game slowly and enjoying. Also making tons money selling (Purple Half Moon bows for 100k+ ) most retarded stuff. I miss good ol' days.

Defeating Lich and getting Bambi and capping Fevered Dreams on mesmer, that was toughest skill to cap back then.

The game has came so far still with interesting events, and designs. I still admire all the artists who spent thousands of hours working on great detailed designs.

Long Last GW!


P.S. i'm not a good writer/storyteller.

1) What was your train of thought in selecting your character profession?

Barbarian (the superior character in Diablo 2) resembles the Warrior (highest damage dealer in GW), so I made that first.

2) How would you view the relationships of PvE or PvP players today with early game release relationships?

The relationships of today suck. Everybody's an elitist [even the bad players]. Almost everybody is a sociopath at one time or the other, etc.

3) What was your greatest achievement early on in the game and why?

I got a 18-34 damage hammer from a guildy for 200 gold. It was req 12, and I didn't know about attribute points.... I was only hitting the devourers for like 10 damage and was like "WTF1!?!?!?!?!?!" Then the guildy pointed out the attribute points. And I owned.

4) How differently did you view them game with respect to today?

We don't spend enough time appreciating the game nowadays.

I can never make myself read posts that long, but I'll take a shot at the Qs:

1) guess you mean my first--I like magic types in any game if they have at least minimal survivability at low level--the E/Mo was a prefect fit.

2) essentially no relationship now, what there is is mostly hostility, versus a whole lot more ppl doing both way back when and getting along a little better (there were always camps, but not as rigid as now).

3) ascension--was the holy grail during the time I played before ascension, and the crystal desert made me earn it.

4) the energy and vitality of the community is all but gone. The game itself is still great IMO especially considering its age, but this is a much harder game to enjoy with others than it used to be.

Lots of good points were brought up that I strongly believe in. It seems like everyone is an elitist these days, and I miss the time when no one cared and everyone was savoring their journey through the game. I've since returned to these roots with heroes and henchmen to explore the far reaches of GW:EN.

Indian made a great point on build creativity being gone in PvP, and that is the main reason why I don't play PvP anymore. Fighting unique enemies is supposed to the be the point of PvP. If you fight the same damn team over and over again (I'm looking at you spirit spammers) it feels like farming in PvE (minus the loot).

Thinking about the simpler times really gets me excited for GW2. I know that in the beginning, it will be like the beginnings of GW again. Hopefully, Anet can avoid saturating the game with class crossing redundant skills and allow for a fresh experience.

Well that will only happen if it's a small community at first like Guild Wars was in the first year or so. When more people come, it gets less cool. Small like around 100k or so for the first 5-6 months or so would be cool but I doubt that will ever happen. Probably have over 500k and a faster deteriorating community.

Hmm, while I hope you are right, I highly doubt it. A lot of current GW players will play GW2 too, and their elitist attitude etc. will remain when they start GW2. Apart from that, when GW started, nobody cared about rushing through the game as fast as possible. With every additional chapter, people wanted to get through the content faster and faster, just so they could get to the end-game goods (myself included, I have to admit). I don't see this being any different when GW2 comes out. In essence it will most likely be the same kind of game as GW and since the greater part of the players starting with GW2 will be the people that currently play GW and they will still want to get to the end-game parts asap. Ofcourse, if GW2 turns out to be a completely different game, with different game mechanics et cetera, this may be different.

1) What was your train of thought in selecting your character profession?
When a couple of my counter-strike source clanmates told me about this new and revolutionary MMO named Guild Wars coming up, I started getting interested. I read up on the available professions and decided that, based on ArenaNet's description, the Mesmer class looked the most intriguing out of the six. And thus, I started a Mesmer. I immediately loved the game, and played way more than my guildies, so I mostly pugged my way through Tyria. Strangely, I never had any problems whatsoever getting into groups as a Mesmer... maybe because people hadn't formed their opinion yet about how Mesmers supposedly suck in PvE.

3) What was your greatest achievement early on in the game and why?
Beating the final mission, without a doubt. I had gotten through the entire game without any problems up to that point, but for some reason, Hell's Precipice proved to be a pretty big obstacle for the PUGs I went with. Then I got into a PUG that actually stayed together after failing, and we were all eager to try and improve our strategy and skillbars. We had to take on the mission 4 times before we finally managed and it took us hours and hours, but boy, were we satisfied when we finally got it. We stayed together discussing the mission and how the game had been afterwards in Droknar's Forge for another few hours.

4) How differently did you view them game with respect to today?
Ignorance is bliss. The less you know about the game and everything there is to do, achieve and obtain, the more fun it is. And that's exactly the problem with new chapters being released... sure, new environments and items to be acquired, but essentially, it's the same thing and there really isn't anything 'new' about it.

I really hope you are right about GW2, but even if you are, that will only last a few months. Oh well...