Looking To Join Guild Wars!

Hey everyone I am looking to jump into another MMORPG. I've been playing MMO's for some time now I spent a couple years with Runescape then I played about 1 year of World Of Warcraft. I've had a break from MMO's for about 8 months now and decided to get back into them. So i'm searching for the best one, I was thinking of just renewing my WoW account but I remember how boring it was when I was leveling up. So one of my clan mates told be about Guild Wars i've heard about it occasionally but never knew much about it. He also said there is no monthly few to play online? Just buy the game and you can play online with everyone for free?

So if someone would like to fill me in on all the good and bad things about this game i'd love to hear them. Is the leveling like WoW long and boring, are the graphics good? Is there anyway I can test this game or could someone post a high resolution video of PvP and raids if thats what they are called in this game. The requirements to run the game. Everything I should know about it.

Hoping to get some great replies that will show me if the game is worth it or not thanks!

I'll post a couple answers, partly because I don't want to type that much and because I want others to build on to my answer.

Leveling in Guild Wars is the complete opposite of leveling in WoW. The level cap in Guild Wars is 20. However, at level 20 is when the game really opens up. Depending on which game you buy, it could take anywhere from a couple of weeks to less than a day to hit level 20 (from longest to shortest time: prophecies aka "guild wars", nightfall, factions).

The game is completely 100% free of fees. Just buy the game in the store or online, enter the key, and start playing.

I think the graphics are much better than WoW's graphics. To me they seem more realistic compared to WoW's "cartoonish" graphics (not that there's anything wrong with that).

If you want to test out the game, you could go download the game client at www.guildwars.com. Once you do that, check out the stickied thread about getting a trial key. Enter that trial key to make an account. The trial keys get you 14 days or 10 hours of gameplay (whichever occurs first).

Overall I think that Guild Wars is a game worth getting. I've been playing it pretty consistently, taking two breaks over the span of more than 2 years now. It is a very different game from WoW that is more concerned with tactics and skill over level and time. One last thing I want to mention, which is crucial. The game only allows you to bring 8 skills in an area at once. You can't increase that number and the game is built around having 8 skills. This again is meant to promote skill and tactics in the skills you choose.

You can request for 14day/10hr trial keys at this thread, or ask any of your friends who have Guild Wars for one.

http://guildwarsguru.com/forum/showt...php?t=10067073

I doubt you'll find high resolution videos, just look for YouTube ones. Its 2 year old graphics, and better than WoW, imo.

The bad thing is that GW2 is announced, and there will not be any new campaigns or expansions made for GW1.

The good thing is that GW2 is about 2 years away, and now GW1 campaigns can be found quite cheap. I heard that you can get Prophesies for as low as $9.99 at some places. But you can get the campaigns for as low as $24.99 now. Eye of the North expansion is new, so it's still $39.99. Add to this that there is no monthly subscription.

There should be enough available content for you to enjoy for months, if not the full 2 years before GW2. I'd say that GW is a great bargain now.

I think the minus points for GW is that it has no auction house, so trading is quite cumbersome. Another thing is that its social system is not as fleshed out as contemporary MMO. Humans are the only player race.

The big pluses for GW is no subscription, fast to max a character, free re-specing of characters, "lower" grind.

In a few months, you can get up to speed (Equipment and Skills-wise) with people who have played for 2 years. You'll still have to compete with their skillz (not the same as Skills) and knowledge of the game.

Alright sounds good so could someone also fill me in on what game I buy I was at walmart and saw one that just said Guild Wars I think it was 20$ the other one looked like an expansion and was 40$.

Does this game have like raids dungeons PVP all that stuff. What do maxed out leveled characters do for fun.

There are a handful of elite dungeons that resemble WoW raids. But nothing as long as some of the higher end WoW dungeon.

GW's normal explorable environment is more challenging that WoW's outdoors, so you almost always need to be in a party. You can form parties with other people, or use customisable NPC Heroes (only with Nightfall and EotN) and uncustomisable NPC Henchmen (everywhere).

GW is wholly instanced. All the exporable areas outside of towns are instances. There are obviously good and bad points that come with this approach.

There's a variety of 5-6 types of PvP game types. From random 4v4, to organised guild 8v8 to 12v12 fragfest.

You can get any of the following "campaigns" to start the game: Prophesies, Factions or Nightfall. You need one of those before you can play Eye of the North "expansion".

For beginners, I would start with Prophecies (which is the original and probably the one you saw for $20). It takes the longest to get to level 20 but it's the most beginner friendly of the 3.

There are several "elite" areas in the game, spanning all 4 of the games (the 3 campaigns plus the expansion, Eye of the North). I'm gonna go ahead and quote myself in a different post that I made recently:

.

In Eye of the North, there are dungeons which are your more traditional WoW-type raids. There is also PvP. There is [wiki]Random Arenas[/wiki] (RA), [wiki]Team Arenas[/wiki] (TA), [wiki]Heroes Ascent[/wiki] (or Hall of Heroes; HoH or HA), [wiki]Guild versus Guild[/wiki] (GvG), [wiki]Hero Battles[/wiki] (HB), and [wiki]Alliance Battles[/wiki] (AB). You need Nightfall in order to do HB and Factions in order to do AB.

Alright i'm downloading the client now and posted a request for a trail code. So if I play and like it do I have to buy both the 20 dollar and 40 dollar one or just the main game then expansion later?

And there are 4 games are all 4 games active with people online or do they all combined into one? Does Guild Wars have realms/servers that hold like 2000 people each or what?

Guild Wars (Prophecies) is the first campaign. Guild Wars: Factions is the second campaign. Guild Wars: Nightfall is the third. Each game is a stand alone game based on its own continent, though the three games can be linked to one another on your plaync account so that you can cross the three different continents with any single characters. Guild Wars: Eye of the North (GW:EN) is the first (and, likely, last) Guild Wars expansion. It basically expands on the continent of Tyria and story from the first game, though you can own any one of the three campaigns and still access the expansion content.

I recommend playing the campaigns in chronological order (by release) but you can play which ever one you like first (except GW:EN, which requires another campaign to play since it is, indeed, an expansion). Research the different campaigns and play which ever one appeals to you the most.

Guild Wars is extremely different from WoW in terms of content. First of all, the explorable world is instanced rather than persistent like in WoW. It is in towns and outposts where you will pick up other people to party with (or, if you feel like solo'ing, bring heroes or henchmen as necessary to fill your party). Explorable areas are where most questing takes place but Guild Wars also has Missions that support the story and lore, which make the storyline a much larger factor in progressing thru Guild Wars. The Eye of the North expansion does introduce dungeons. There are quite a few different PvP options in Guild Wars including a Guild vs. Guild system.

"Maxed out" characters get to play the majority of the game. When you reach the level 20 (lvl cap), or shortly prior to reaching it, is approximately when you will leave the starter area and begin to access the actual thick of the game content. RPGmaniac contrasts between WoW and GW leveling pretty directly in his first post.



In Guild Wars everyone is on the same server. Towns do have districts, though, and districts can fill up but you can switch districts at any time.

You don't have to buy all of the games in order to play, the $20 one alone is enough. The only thing is you must have purchased another game to get the content from Eye of the North.

All 4 of the games can be played as separate ones but they also combine into one game. There are no realms/servers like in WoW. However, there are language districts for American, Europe (and all the different languages within Europe) and an International District. This is a remnant of an old game mechanic. You can freely switch between districts, but explorable areas are all instanced. Only the towns are persistent. The [wiki]District[/wiki] article elaborates a bit more.

I'll recommend that you play all 3 campaigns first, before getting the Eye of the North expansion. EotN is all max level content.

You can travel between the campaigns after you reach certain towns in the game.

GW is essentially one "server". You can travel between the American and European servers, and there is an International district you can meet up with your overseas friends. If towns get crowded, a new District is created, explorable areas are instanced, so there's no overcrowding there.

Alright just awaiting someone to be kind and give me 14/10 Hour trail.

So there is 4 games each time you buy a new game do you make a new character or does your character transfer over?

You add another game (campaign) to your account and you can go to it's continent with old character.

You can take 1 character through all the games if you want. Also, the 3 campaigns (Prophecies, Factions, and Nightfall) all allow you to make new characters in them. Eye of the North (the expansion) is strictly level 20 content, so you can't start a new character there. You have to transfer an existing character over there.

Alright this sounds like a great game waiting for trail asking friend tomorrow if he has one.

I've been looking at screen shots and really just want to go out and buy it but I don't know if i'll regret it.

EDIT:
After looking at all the screenshots I am convinced that this game is awesome and I think i'm going to buy it after I get home. What I wanna know how big is the environment i'll be getting the basic $20 and the controls are they WASD for movement or click to move? Also the thing I hate about going into a new MMO is adapting to all the lingo and the termanoligy. And all the environment and whats good what isn't good ect.

GW prophecies is gigantic. if you play casually, it will take you at least a month or two to finish. personally, i finished the prophecies campaign a year and a half after i bought it. the other campaigns are shorter, factions being the shortest and nightfall being somewhere in between.

you can use both WASD and click to move in this game. you can also bind any function to any key on the keyboard, so you can customize the game the way you like it.

as a last and probably the most important advice: GW is not a mmorpg in the classical sense. if you approach it like WoW with better graphics, you'll be disappointed. however, GW offer things that WoW never will. you will enjoy this game immensely if you approach it with the right mindset.

Could you explain this to me?

Also you can beat the game? Like in WoW you can't really beat the game you can max your level but still have millions of things to do.

Are you saying once I finish a campaign or whatever that means lol, that I go buy another one and beat that then the others so on so on?

Like can you keep 1 game and have hours of enjoyment each time you log in or once your done your done? Little confusing sorry.

beating the game doesn't stop you from enjoying the game. It just means you have finished the storyline...there a 1000's of side quests to enjoy as well as numerous titles to seek....and pvp...by not being like wow i think they mean...you won't run into people other than those that are in your part out in the world...the only "mmo" you have is when you are in town...all exploration/missions/quests are instanced for you alone...so you don't have to worry about kill stealing etc...

By beating a game or the storyline...it opens up Hardmode for that chapter...which is a huge challenge.

Ok and are there certain races and classes? I've seen ranger ect. Which is the most powerful right now and easiest to function?

Me and my friend are probably going to start playing together are you saying we can't just meet in a town and follow each other around completing stuff and leveling up?

And you need people to help you with quests or campaign is there a system to find people or do you have to spend hour in a town mass messaging to see if people will go.

Yes you can both meet in town and journey together..but you must be in a group with one another. There is a party search feature...but most people just spam LFG (looking for group) or use NPC henchman to fill out the party, or play with friends etc.

There are numerous classes..and secondary(subclasses)

Core is
Warrior
Monk
Ranger
Elementalist
Mesmer
Necro

Factions adds
Assassin
Ritualist

Nightfall Adds
Dervirsh
Paragon.

Inorder to play an assassin you must own factions...etc...the core comes with any campaign.

I would suggest with starting with a warrior or elementalist until you get the hang of the game.

Be sure that you and your friend both have the same "campaign" or you will not see one another...

My suggestion would be to purchase.... Prophecies..then Nightfall...then Eye of the North..and last Factions...

If you want to be on equal ground in PVP you need to buy all 3 campaigns and or the skill unlock packs from the online store.

Hmm seems confusing with the 4 games and stuff but I guess I can learn on my way. I guess i'll go into Wally World and pick it up and hope it works out for me.

So when you are in a village there are all the people but when you leave do you pass through something that removes everyone you see unless they are in your party?

Theres' no races - only different classes available for playing (though plenty of NPC/monster races).
Which class is most powerful is open to debate,- think more in terms of how you like to play: warrior in front, ranger on the midline or caster in the rear.
I would suggest you do not start with mesmer as they are difficult to play well (and suffer from bad press as a consequence).

You can easily meet up with your friend in a town/outpost and party up, then go outside together. Unlike WoW however you can't meet up once you're outside. When you leave a town a version of the area you enter will be created solely for your party,- none can enter (for better or for worse).

There is a system for meeting up with others for doing missions press "P" and a window will open up allowing you to enter your request to join a party for a specific quest or mission. You might still have to wait for 30 min+ for the really hard stuff (weeks or months away for you) before you get that 2.nd monk to join the party *sigh*.

Yes there is a portal that you pass through to leave the town. It is generally pretty obvious to see. The portals also show up on your maps.

You will actually have a splash screen pop up as you zone in and out of each area, with a brief wait period as you load the new zone.

ok the best thing to do is download the clint buy proh for 9.99 then go in the online store buy eye of the north and then yuouwillget every other game for half off!!! nightfallis the best but to get the most out of the game. you willneed all 4 games!

if you like help after you join us my in game name is ranger eminem! imin a 8 guild alliance we use vent alot. about 200 pople in the alliance 1million faction

Ok Woop Shotty gave me a trial and I thank him greatly. I'm doing the start where I get into that team and have to battle the other NPC's this game is pretty fun just little confusing with controls I have to work it out. So what game am I playing right now which of the 4? I downloaded the client off the site and am playing it.

Also what button is the default button to bring up like your inventory or can you to like remove your armour ect?

I can't answer your first question, but, inventory is 'I', and all bags are 'F9'. I'm not sure about trials versions, but the keys and interface can be changed by going to the Options screen, 'F11'. This may help some key-related issues you may face.

Hope this helps.

Edit: Through 'I' you can remove your armour, and easily remove weapons and see them on your charater as well.

Ok thanks someone invited me into a guild woot lol i'm in some town going to take some getting used to.

Therangereminem can you link me to the page to buy it for $10 I can't seem to find it?

I think prophecies was only $10 at Best Buy for thanksgiving. But it appears that it isn't any more.

I agree. For me, "beating" the game was just the beginning of enjoying the game. I have beat all four "campaigns" but still have hundreds of quests to complete. Right now, I am working on maxing some titles. There are also so many ways to play the game, that if you get bored, you can just go do something different...start a new character. get into PVP, do Hard Mode, solo farm, etc.

Oh dang so it went back up to like $30 is there a bundle pack that has every single game in it so I can get that for christmas? Because I went to walmart and must have read it wrong it said $35 but it just said Guild Wars nothing else the other one was $45 and that one was the nightfall one.

hello, you won't regret taking an interest in this game. unlike wow, or any other mmo, this game attempts to encourage using skill and tactics in order to get through a mission. primarily focused around teamplay, it is no wonder that the community is at balance between pve and pvp.

all classes are fun, and none are the best - they are all experts in their area. However i do not recommend starting as a mesmer, as they are quite difficult to master for a beginner in comparison to others. Most people will probably tell you that a warrior is a safe bet to start out with, as they can dish out a fair bit of damage and take it as well.

i am not that familiar with WoW, but ill try to explain the classes in relation to it so you get a good understanding

here is a little overview of each class:

Warrior - Melee fighter. This is your typical close combat fighter that goes knee deep in the action. Warriors have a little energy supply so DO NOT use them for spellcasting - but utilise adrenaline to their advantage, which builds up like "rage" in WoW. They have skills in particular weapons - including the sword, hammer and axe

Monk - Usually seen as the almighty healer/protector supporter of the group, if you choose to become one - you will have no trouble finding a group, as you are always wanted. However do not forget that monks can diversify into the smiting damage dealer.

Necromancer - If you like death and decay and lifestealing - this is your profession. this class utilises hexes, life stealing, undead summoning and sacrificing. these classes are quite complex in comparison to more solid professions, but still potent as ever.

Elementalist - what is commonly known as "mage". this class dishes out serious firepower while not really being able to take much of it. elementalists (or ele) utilise fire, water, air and earth to do all sorts of damage to the enemy.

Ranger - I suppose this would be definitely relating to the "hunter" class in WoW. these rangers shoot arrows from their bows, utilising different preparatiions such as poison and laying traps. they also have the ability of a pet, an animal companion which helps them in their travels.

Mesmers - A Class which has the ability of using their foe's spells and abilities against them. in PvP, a mesmer is very deadly and frustrating. however, in pve, they arnt univerally recognised because they are overshadowed by the damage other classes use. Mesmers should be encouraged as they are very capable of saving your life, yet people do not see them at work.

___

Assassin - High damage melee character with weak armour. this profession utilises high damaging combo chains in order to completely obliterate his opponent, then when he is done - he retreats to a safe position where he can recharge. DO NOT mistake this class for a warrior - they are incapable of tanking as well as a warrior, and only when you have truly mastered them can you be able to stand your ground in a fight. your objective is to step in (you have the ability of teleportation), do your damage, and step out.

Ritualist - This class makes use of lightning and spirits that he/she controlls to do his bidding. he is very flexible in his ability to deal damage, heal (sometimes better than a monk if experienced D and protect. This class is quite complex to beginners, as they do not utilise them to their full extent. nevertheless - the ritualist is very very deadly if used right.

_

Dervish - Holy warriors. these hooded figures with scythes epitomise the image of cool . They rely on enchantments to get them through a fight, and deal a LOT of damage as well as take it. they are melee fighters, BUT DO NOT mistake them for warriors. if you rush in - let me tell you, you will get killed. these also have the ability of taking the form of a god, giving them super natural abilities.

Paragon - i suppose they would be related to a "paladin" in wow. these spear wielding angelic like leaders are useful in defense as well as offense. They can dishout a lot of damage while also reducing the overall damage the party receives. these are very useful in a team - and incredible in one with more than one of this class.

_

you know what is so great about this game? you are not restricted to one class, gw allows you to picka secondary profession which can be changed constantly. this allows your character to experiment and diversify

for example - a great mix would be a Paragon/Warrior, because both classes make use of adrenaline - the paragon can use the warrior's defense shouts in order to improve his own defense methods

Sweet thanks! Alright well I guess i'll have to wait for Christmas to play after my trial runs out. Unless there really is a $10-20 game?

I believe, if I'm not mistaken, that ANet has put on a sale of all games for Christmas, and they're all 50% or something to that effect. I don't know exactly.

Head to www.guildwars.com to check it out.

You may not be able to find "just" prophecies at most stores nowadays - that box is kinda old right now.

That being said, one way of looking at things that makes it a bit easier to grasp is that each "campaign" takes place on a different continent in the same world.

Prophecies = Europe
Factions = Asia
Nightfall = Africa/Middle East

Eye of the North is an expansion that involves high level content and can only be played by level 20 characters from one of the 3 other campaigns.

IMO, I like Nightfall the best because it introduces heroes, which are customizable henchmen that you can bring w/ you on your adventures. Guild Wars is based around a party of 4-8 people for most of its content, so while you can solo, it is more difficult.

The other thing to keep in mind is that most of the "grind" is for stuff that is not really necessary. In other words, you can get armor that provides the maximum level of protection very easily and rather inexpensively. The same goes for weapons w/ the max damage/stats. In fact, you can even get armor and weapons for free, simply by exchanging little trinkets you get off enemies to certain NPCs.

Anyway, you should enjoy GW, and welcome aboard!

Alright i'm still a little confused I want to buy it but I probably will have to wait a whole month for christmas to play!

http://www.amazon.com/NCsoft-FG-XP-0...2784 1&sr=8-1
Is that the game I need to buy? See it just says Guild Wars not like Prophecys

Okay, this is a little off-topic, but just warning you now

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

EDIT: Yes, that is Prophecies (original game) , posted a minute before me :P

Ha ok so it's $35 for Guild Wars Prophecies I guess i'll just wait till Christmas then i'll be back in for action!


Also the fact that everytime I leave a town I am in my own generated map with no other people except people in my party, maybe it's not that bad but coming from WoW I am used to people everywhere!

yeah that is one of the differences with wow...also the fact that everyone has the same access to max damage weapon/armor ....

You can purchase GWEN through the online store and be able to purchase all 3 campaigns for half price.

You might want to look online at sams club...they had a combo pack that you could purchase all 3 campaigns for $100...

Or you could purchase the Guildwars Platinum edition...which gives you GW1 (prophecies) and Guild Wars Eye of the North (GWEN) which is an expansion.

Hmm let me do more research to see if this game is to complicated for me. I want to catch on fast but with 4 games and all that areas and weapons going to be hard.

I did a little checking, and Amazon.com is listing a version of Prophecies *new*, through another vendor, for only like $19 US.